DOI: 10.21276/sjahss.2017.5.2.11 Available Online: http://saspjournals.com/sjahss 129 Scholars Journal of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN 2347-5374 (Online) Sch. J. Arts Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2017; 5(2):129-140 ISSN 2347-9493 (Print) ©Scholars Academic and Scientific Publishers (SAS Publishers) (An International Publisher for Academic and Scientific Resources) Micro-level Impact of ‘Old Age Allowance’ and ‘Vulnerable Group Development (VGD)’ Programs: Evidences from Rural Bangladesh Mohammad Mosarop Hossan 1 , Md. Abdul Hye* 2 , Syed Naimul Wadood 3 1 Dhaka School of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh 2 Lecturer, Department of History, Sunamganj Govt. College, Sunamganj, Bangladesh 3 Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh *Corresponding Author: Md. Abdul Hye Email: ahyeju@gmail.com Abstract: Social Safety Net Programs (SSNPs) play a key role in Bangladesh to protect the poor households from food insecurity and other vulnerabilities. The study examines the socio-economic impact of „Old Age Allowance‟ and „Vulnerable Group Development (VGD)‟ programs on the recipient households at a union of Lakshmipur district in rural Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the SSNPs were first implemented in 1974 and now there are 97 programs in operations. We examined the impact of the two Social Safety Nets Programs (Old Age Allowance and VGD) on micro-level through primary data from household survey and it‟s been found overall positive outcome. Out of all the Social Safety Net Programs, the Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) program is found to be having the most noticeable impact on the recipient households‟ food, medicine, and other indicators. Keywords: Social Safety Net Programs, Old Age Allowance, VGD, Micro-level Impact, Bangladesh. INTRODUCTION “The king shall provide the orphans, the aged, the infirm, the afflicted and the helpless with maintenance”- Kautillya, Arthashastra. Why do governments pursue social safety net programs? For many countries in the world, it is a constitutional obligation to help the poorest and the marginalized. A number of economists argue that it is to improve standard of living of marginalized group, and some others claim that its help those who are not involved with the market so that they can be connected with the market by being consumers or producers. Whichever way we define the objectives, the implication is that it is a form of public expenditure for the most vulnerable section of the population of a state so that they can pursue a better way of living. Safety net programs were first implemented after the famine of 1974, with the Food For-Work (FFW) and Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programs. Over the years, 97 social safety net programs are now in operation in Bangladesh. The major Social Safety-Net Programs (SSNPs) in Bangladesh can be divided into four broad categories: (i) employment generation programs, (ii) programs to cope with natural disasters and other shocks, (iii) incentives provided to parents for their children‟s education, and (iv) incentives provided to families to improve their health status [1]. Among the safety-net programs some of the important programs are: Food for Work (FFW), Cash for Education (CEP), Primary Education Stipend Project (PESP), Female Secondary School Stipend Program (FSSSP), Old Age Allowance, Widow and Deserted Women Allowance, Vulnerable Group development (VGD), Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF), Test Relief (TR), Gratuitous Relief (GR) etc. The Social Safety Set Programs (SSNPs) play a key role in Bangladesh to protect the poor households from food insecurity and other vulnerabilities. The World Bank reported in June 2013 that Bangladesh was successful in reducing the number of people living below the poverty line from a high 63 million in 2000 to 46 million in 2010 [2]. The population of Bangladesh is predominantly rural, with almost 70 percent of the population living in rural areas. The rural poor often suffer from persistent food insecurity and are mostly uneducated, and may also suffer from serious illnesses or disabilities. According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), 2010 Cost-of-Basic-Needs (CBN) estimates 31.5 percent of the households in Bangladesh were poor in terms of the upper poverty line and 17.6 percent of the people are extreme poor who live below the lower poverty line. Most of the extreme-poor households suffer from chronic poverty and multiple deprivations. In some cases, they may own a small piece of land and a little livestock. In general, perhaps, they have enough to eat, yet their diets may lack nutritional value. As a result of health