Poverty rate declined but not the poor

The number of the poor has remained significantly higher even though the poverty rate declined to 20.5% in 2019 which was over 80% after the independence in Bangladesh, said experts and economists at an event on Saturday.

They said that 35 million people remained poor since 1990 despite the poverty rate halving in the last three decades and urged the government to take and implement policies required for decentralisation to uplift marginalised people above the poverty line, ensuring inclusive growth.

The recommendation was made at an event to launch the "Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2022" jointly compiled by the Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM) and the Centre for Inclusive Development Dialogue (CIDD).

Experts from home and abroad spoke at the event arranged at the Gulshan Club in the capital chaired by Dr Kholiquzzaman Ahemd, chairman of InM and Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation.

Speakers at the discussion emphasised finding out multidimensional poverty to access the incidence of poverty and deprivation instead of expenditure-based poverty. They also stressed the dissemination of poverty data based on community, area, gender and people who lag.

Prof Salma Akhter, trustee of CIDD, who presented the keynote at the event, said about 94% of the Garo males work as day labourers while the reaming are engaged with informal sectors.

All members of the community consider themselves poor throughout the year as males earn Tk300 a day and females only Tk100.

Around 60,000 people from the Munda community face shortage of food for three to four months every year.

The daily income of the Mal Paharuia community varies from Tk100 to Tk200.

About 92% of 1.29 lakh of Santal live below the poverty line.

Most women and children in these groups face additional marginalisation, and rights violations, and have fewer opportunities to access education, health, economic opportunities, protection and justice, Prof Salma added.

She further said the legal, administrative and other social institutions do not usually work equally to protect the rights of ethnic minorities and trans genders. Thus, their voices remain mostly unheard as the marginalised communities in Bangladesh are powerless and less organised than other citizens in claiming their civil rights.

Dr Kholiquzzaman said, "The income-based poverty measurement will not eliminate the actual poverty. We have to find out the multidimensional poverty."

Dr Atirur Rahmnan, former governor of Bangladesh Bank, said that the economy is facing some challenges regarding geopolitical tension, energy shortage and supply chain disruption, and the government should take steps considering these challenges.

Professor Muzammel Huq of Scottish University said although Bangladesh has shown remarkable success in poverty reduction, its Rangpur division still has a higher rate of poverty. Unfortunately, poverty in Rangpur is not considered a major problem in the country.

Improvement in state power requires establishing a welfare country. The state power increases from the financial power and administrative power.

He identified the lower tax-GDP ratio as the prime obstacle here on the way to increasing financial power. The ratio of 9-10% is not enough to ensure the required allocation for social security.