The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Speakers at a seminar yesterday emphasised the need for creating employment opportunity through industrialisation in the famine prone area to help poverty reduction.

They said poverty alleviation is not possible through micro credit only. There is a need for taking multi dimensional projects to reduce poverty, they said.

Social Development Foundation (SDF) and the Neeti Gobeshona Kendro organised the seminar on 'Monga' at BIAM auditorium with its chairman Dr Akbar Ali khan in the chair. Prof Dr Mozaffar Ahmad, PKSF Managing Director Dr Qazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed, Dr Lenin Azad and BIDS Research Director Dr Rushidan Islam Rahman, among others, spoke on the occasion.

Dr Akbar Ali Khan said some people are exploiting the poor through micro credit distribution. It is not possible to reduce poverty through micro finance, he said.

Differing with Noble Laureate Dr Yunus over poverty reduction through micro credit, he said it is impossible through one or two micro credit projects.

He said one poor man is buying a cow taking micro credit while another is selling cow to repay the loan. As a result there is no reproduction of cows. There was a chance of getting profit of micro credit if poor people could buy the cow after reproduction, he said.

The former adviser and Chairman of the Regulatory Reforms Commission said people have started to take less food due to the price hike of food grains. As a result they are in risk of suffering from physical problem, Akbar Ali said.

He said the government should take necessary steps so that people from Monga prone areas can go abroad and change their financial position through earning money abroad.

Prof Mozaffar Ahmed said raising self-respect among the people of Monga prone areas can help reduce poverty.

He said non-government organisations are providing loan in the Monga prone areas but failing to bring any change. Dr Ahmed said steps should be taken to send the people from Monga prone areas abroad after training them.

Dr Qazi Mesbahuddin Ahmed said permanent poverty alleviation from Monga prone areas is impossible without industrialisation.

Neeti Gobeshona Kendro Trustee Dr Sheikh Toufiq M Huq in his keynote paper said the traditional loan programmes of the NGO's could not alleviate poverty in the northern area. To reduce poverty there is a need of taking basic programme.

He suggested establishment of special export processing zones in the Monga prone areas to help alleviate poverty.