The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The Chairman of the Regulatory Reforms Commission and former adviser to the Caretaker Government Dr Akbar Ali Khan said the country may face a 'silent famine', if the intolerable prices hike of essentials and many other socio-economic catastrophes were not addressed forthwith.

"About 25 to 35 per cent of the total population have to go hungry, as prices of essentials have increased 30 to 40 per cent. Prices of items, especially those that have no alternatives for the poor, have increased. Such a situation is nothing but a precursor of silent famine," he said this as chief guest at a roundtable in the city yesterday.

"Income of the poor has not increased but the commodity prices have increased manifolds.

People are living a life where there is no food and future," he said.

Democracy is the best governance, which can play the desired role for overcoming the present situation, he recommended.

While replying to a question he said, "Different aspects of the long awaited general election and the issue of holding or not the local polls has pushed the government and the political parties towards heated debate and mutual disbelief," said the former adviser.

It was seen that the then governments organised local elections with an evil motive to influence the national elections, he said and added, "We will have to be careful about the consequences of holding the local elections in two phases."

"The government will have to keep it in mind that if they arranged local election in two phases this time, then the system would have to be kept unchanged in future also.

So decision will have to be taken very thoughtfully and considering the ground reality," said Dr Akbar.

The roundtable on 'Moving Towards Sustainable Development in Bangladesh: To Meet the Challenges of Future' was jointly organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) at the National Press Club.

Dr Akbar Ali reiterated his proposal for holding the Parliament and local government elections simultaneously.

"In many countries including the US polls of central and state governments are held at a time. So our policymakers and political parties can consider this option," he said.

While replying to the upcoming budget, he said, "Budget should be passed by Parliament according to our Constitution. So it cannot be prescribed that a Caretaker Government should formulate and pass a national budget."

He mentioned that the countrymen are deluded by the governments and the power of the day about the country's condition in every sector.

"People at home and abroad are being provided wrong and distorted images of the country. You will find in the MDG book of the Planning Commission that only one per cent of the city dwellers do not have access to pure drinking water, which means that 99 per cent are deprived of this basis need," said Dr Akbar.

According to the latest government statistics, only 13 per cent of the youth do not have employment, he said and raised a question: "Is this figure true?" He said, "No, in reality the number is much higher."

The government should delve deep into the existing problems and device immediate intervention in view of the real picture of the country, for a better future, he suggested.

M Asaduzzaman, Research Director of BIDS, said, "Institutionalisation and governance issues need to be addressed properly where roles of local government and communities need to be recognised and skill development must be a priority as environmental management is a skill and knowledge-intensive activity so that sustainable development would be achieved in future."

Dr M Aminul Islam, Assistant Country Director of UNDP, stressed on concerted efforts to demonstrate the linkages of environment with poverty, economic growth, human health and governance for sustainable development in the country.

Shawkat Mahmud, President of National Press Club, experts and different professionals also attended the roundtable.