The New Nation - Internet Edition

R. Bhakther Solomon

I had the privilege of visiting the People's Republic of Bangladesh. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small region, sharing the border with Burma to the Far East and Bay of Bengal to the South. The Zia international airport, contrary to the general expectation to a new comer, gives a beautiful panoramic view and also quick immigration and baggage clearance. Things look fantastic One gets the impression of one landing in a blessed land. Alas, once outside the airport, on the roads, one is confronted with different dimensions of the reality in the country. Things are different!

Bangladesh is a young nation having completed just 35 years. The borders of present day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947, when the region become the eastern wing of Pakistan. However, the political and linguistic discrimination as well as the economic neglect led to popular agitations against West Pakistan which led to war for independence in 1971. Bangladesh came into being with a population ranging from 142 - 159 million. According to a recent World Bank note, the country has made significant progress in human development in the areas of literacy, gender parity in schooling and reduction in population growth. The majority of the Bangladeshis work m agriculture. Bangladesh has moderate tax rates. The top income tax rate is 25 percent, and the top corporate tax rate is 30 percent. Other taxes include a value-added tax (VAT), property tax and a tax on interest. In the most recent years, overall tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was 8.7 per cent. Figures do not reveal much.

Affluence or poverty in the country? This paper is presented with the concern regarding the country's economic profile, which is not good. The people I Government must do something to live up to the expectation of it being a fast developing nation. The author wishes that everyone who reads this paper develops a critical mind set not only of this paper but also the country's reality and work towards bettering the reality of the nation.

Poor or developing country? Despite the continuous domestic and international efforts to improve its economy, Bangladesh remains a developing nation, if not a poor nation. According to the World Bank, the most significant obstacles of growth are poor governance and weak public institutions. In recent years, the country has seen an increase in foreign direct investment but the investments are yet to trigger the growth process. There are large number of NGOs both national and international. Of late their presence I active services are being cited as the reasons for the country's recent development and growth. The presence of Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) also of late is being cited as one of the reasons for the country's growth.

Index of economic freedom Bangladesh has been ranked 149th among 179 countries in freedom of trade in the "Index of Economic Freedom" report released by The Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank and The Wall Street Journal yesterday. The "Index of Economic Freedom" Is produced annually by The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, appraises economic freedom based on 10 categories, namely trade freedom, labour freedom, fiscal freedom, business freedom, government size, investment freedom, property rights, financial freedom, freedom from corruption and monetary freedom. Countries whose scores fall between 80 and 100 per cent in the index are said to have free economies while mostly free economies are those scoring between 70 and 79.9, moderately free (between 60 and 69.9) and mostly non-free (between 50 and 59.9). Countries which score from 49.9 and below are rated as economically repressed.

Tourism - Bangladesh offers ample tourist attractions. It has good mangroves and natural ponds with clean water. Much of the country has been relatively untouched by modem technology and development. Many tourists find new flora and fauna and the colourful tribal life so enchanting. Bangladesh has the longest natural beach in the world. Sundarbans Reserve Forest site is one of the World Heritage sites and the most important mangrove forests in the world. It silently safeguards against the fury of flood / cyclones and provides timber, honey, medicine and nurtures a variety of fish and provides a lovely green canopy housing birds. Active environmentalists and nature lovers would love to be here! This is a good eco-tourism sight for world travelers!

Religious harmony: In spite of being a country proclaimed to profess Muslim religion, it seems to be a free country. 85% of the population is Muslim, but it is a land of religious freedom, harmony and tolerance. The constitution establishes Islam as the state religion but provides the right to practice the religion of one's choice. In fact I visited one village (Nagori - 35 kIns. from Dhaka) alongwith a group of neighbouring country's personnel. We are told that in the village, both Muslims and Christians live together peacefully, more or less in equal number. The villagers built a big church, replacing their old church on an estimated cost of Rs. 20 million tk! In India now building churches seem to be an impossible one, even where Christians are the majority. Countries that profess religious tolerance must take a leaf out from this country's religious harmony.

People: The people are well behaved both men and women move freely on the roads without fear. There is no restricted dress code. Most women wear traditional dress and the younger ones - churidhar. Most men wear casuals. Ordinary folk wear lungis. Irrespective of the educated and uneducated, the cycle rickshaw wallahs cater to all. The rich drive costly vehicles with scant respect to traffic rules. The roads are chaotic. All people seem to be in hurry may be the author's visit was on the eve of Rarnzan festival. One could see policemen with sticks in their hands, but fails to bring about strict discipline among the road users! There are good upcoming big housing and office multistory complexes along with poor colonies. The parliament building is majestic and looks like five-star hotel buildings. So also many mosques.

Malls: Handful of shopping malls exists. The shopping malls are full of people, some do few window-shopping. Most others are serious in getting something. It is a good sight to see rich people buying large quantities of dress materials (lungis and cheap variety sarees) and carrying in their own hands for distribution to the poor before the festival! Most of the shops display a "fixed rate" board but still the shrewd shoppers can have his / her way of getting things on 5 - 35% cheaper by bargaining. The cloth shops are full of saris of the latest type with stone / pearls / embroidery work. However, things seem to be more costly than in India!

Communication aids: Not many seem to be addicted to cell phones, unlike in India where many seem to become technology savvy and start displaying their cell phones in public. No wonder, even territories find a means in these aids. Not many computer and internet cafes and STD/ISTD telephone booths on the roads as we see in many other south Asian countries. If these things are considered as necessary communication items in a modernized world, to some extent, they are not in adequate numbers. Probably, this is also one of the indicators, which reflect the poor development, or the backwardness of the country. The food habits of the people seem to be similar to the neighboring countries.

Poverty: In spite of the impressive growth performance of the country during the last two decades, especially during the last one-decade, the majority people remains are poor. I am shocked to see the plight of the poor. It is not relative poverty but absolute poverty that's manifests here. The current per capita income is Tk.38056 (545 US$).

I know that there are poor in Bangladesh as any other Asian countries, but I never expected families sleeping on the pavements in large numbers in Dhaka city. Mothers sleeping on the pavements with their infants on their arms / chpSt, a mind-boggling sight!

There are few people from all age groups beg on the traffic signals. Even as early as 5 0' clock in the morning, one could see beggars in the traffic signals. Who is to be blamed? One could also see ultra rich persons / families driving important cars. There is vast number of middle class families. But what strikes one is the spread of poverty, which prevails! Is the successive failures of the various Governments, which assume office since 1971, or the poverty reduction strategy plan of successive governments and civil society organizations responsible for the mass failure to deliver the desired results? It looks like that!

Non-governmental organizations (NGOS): For the past one or two decades; there emerged a large number of NGOs and MFIs. The latter have been instrumental in introducing micro finance to the poor on the basis of group lending methodology. This methodology, now replicated in many other countries, consists of requiring those borrowers to form groups and that, within each group, borrowers themselves be responsible for a loan. Bangladesh is known globally for pioneering micro-credit activities. In fact, many countries adopted the idea from Bangladesh in their poverty alleviation efforts. Such is the goodness of Bangladesh MFI's wellness one hears in the outside world. Is this MFIs functioning to pull the families up the small success in poverty reduction the country achieved solely because of MFls and NGOs? One wonders. Crossing the line - It would have taken 5 to 8 years for someone to take 8 times loans from different institutions. In spite of 5-8 years of loans from different NGOs/ MFls, the Government poverty alleviation programme and also the presence of large number of NGOs and their direct programme, the plight of majority poor in Bangladesh is very pathetic. It reflects badly the NGOs and their work. Hailing from India and having a good knowledge of the Development sector, I do admit that this kind of dichotomy exists in few pockets in India too! But that is restricted to few areas, if not to a very few communities only. There are few pockets in Orissa / Bihar where despite the large presence of NGOs and Government poverty elimination programme, still many struggle to eek out a living. Over the past two decades, there has been lot of poverty reduction and reform process to help the poor, but these must have brought very little importance on the lives of the poor. So lapses in few pockets are a universal phenomenon. This is an exception, definitely but not the rule.

49% are poor: The current data from the World Bank and other Institutions if believed to be authentic states that 49% of the families are poor in Bangladesh - the highest number in the Asian region. Recently, in a workshop organized (Aug. '08) by the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), Data Analysis and Technical Assistance Ltd. (DATA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a paper was presented. Drawing on information collected from 1,800 households across rural Bangladesh, the study found that while close to half the households surveyed moved out of poverty, around one- fifth remained chronically poor and a small percentage fell into poverty. These households were found to be extremely vulnerable to unexpected shocks, such as illness, dowry and wedding expenses and floods. The study found that those households that have lower education levels, own less land, hold fewer non-land assets and livestock and have many young children and elderly members thus facing the most difficult challenge in escaping poverty.

The households in the study are based in 102 villages located in 14 of the country's 64 districts and were originally interviewed between eight and 14 years ago. The researchers revisited the same households in late 2006 and early 2007 to assess the changes in poverty and well being that occurred over time.

What is in store for Bangladesh and for other developing countries? In the end, it is very clear that it is not one measure / intervention by one institution / department which will bring prosperity to the poor, but only a combination of interventions which will work as a catalyst. There is a need for more infrastructure, new packages of practice to improve agriculture economy, adequate security for migrant labour's remittances, prevalent Government and safety nets schemes, NGO's social mobilization efforts and MFls meaningful micro finance with less interest, etc. There is a need for proper consultation of Government officials, people's representatives, civil society organizations and the press. One hope the new Government will make an attempt towards all this.

(The author is a Chennai-based Indian Development Consultant with 35 years experience in the field)