Desk Report: Even after greater electricity coverage, a large portion of the rural population still depends on kerosene as their source of light and means of cooking and they are not getting the benefit of power sector subsidy as they have to pay more on the fossil fuel, finds a new study, reports Daily Sun.
Though the government cut kerosene price from Tk 73 to Tk 65 per litre, rural people are paying 13.7 per cent higher price on an average, which is telling upon their consumption pattern, education, income and women are the worst sufferers of the situation, it said.
The study styled: ‘Gender Differentiated Impacts of Kerosene Pricing and Policy Reform in Bangladesh’ conducted by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) suggests a policy reform for providing subsidy on Kerosene so that those people get the real benefits from the subsidy.
BIDS director-general Dr KAS Murshid and researcher Tahreen Tahrima Chowdhury conducted the study which was unveiled at a dissemination workshop at a city hotel on Tuesday.
The study finds that overall 44 per cent people of Khagrachhari, Bandarban, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Panchagarh, Bhola, Patuakhali and Barguna districts are still dependent on kerosene. The trend is much higher at 87.5 per cent in Khagrachhari and 85 per cent in Bandarban.
Any kerosene price hike of one taka causes students of these areas three minutes of study loss and six minutes is lost with Tk 2 increase. Similarly, income generating activities of this population are also severely hampered due to high kerosene price, it said.
If the price sees 20 per cent increase, 21 per cent of rural female students suffer study loss while the rate is lower at 18.50 per cent in case of male students. In case of cooking, 51 per cent of women bear the brunt of the price hike, while 36 per cent men suffer for the same reason.
However, 44 per cent men suffer in case of income generating activities with 20 per cent price hike while the number is 39 per cent for women. Leisure period loss among men was found at 50 per cent and for women, it was 47 per cent.
The study found that rural people have little idea about the actual price of kerosene or subsidy provided on it. Price remains unchanged from the refinery to dealers but increases from the wholesalers and retailers levels mainly because of transport and packaging costs.
Presenting the study highlights, Tahreen said the government’s subsidy policy should be revisited for this segment of the population in the face of global energy price hike.
Taking part in the discussion, senior policy adviser at International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) Laura Merrill said energy subsidy in many developing nations is on the decline while SDGs seek to ensure energy security for all by 2030.
She said poor families in India and Nigeria are now leaning towards LPG and solar power instead of kerosene and Bangladesh has to devise plans how to replicate that.
Local energy expert Dr Shamsul Alam alleged that the government actually has not given any subsidy on fossil fuel as it did not lower the price even after free fall in energy price across the globe in recent years—a policy which is not conducive at all to protect these ultra poor people.
Former BUET professor Dr Nurul Islam said Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has to step in to look after the kerosene price as it only fixes power and gas prices; not those of fossil fuel.
Economist Dr Enamu Huq and a number of energy sector experts and educationists took part in the discussion.