Bangladesh, July 17 -- A World Bank-backed social- protection project has proposed tripling its budget to nearly Tk 28.14 billion, including higher consultancy costs and Tk 500 million for festival-related activities, drawing objections from the Planning Commission.

Advertisement The Department of Social Services has sought up to a 33-per-cent increase in the monthly remuneration of individual consultants, officials said.

It has also proposed allocating Tk 500 million for ceremonies and festival-related activities under the project at a time when the government has tightened spending on several development programmes to ease fiscal pressures.

The proposals were included in the first revision of the "Strengthening Social Protection for...