Rich poor gap
It is highly rewarding to go through the thought-provoking articles of MM Akash and Khonkdar Ibrahim Khaled entitled 'Rising inequality takes shine off growth' and 'rural financing -- the innovative way' respectively appearing in economy and climate change supplements of DS dated 02/24.
According to Professor Akash, the unsung heroes of much heralded growth of Bangladesh are our peasants, garment and migrant workers and micro and small entrepreneurs.
He wrote, "How great the potential of our people is and how foolishly our ruling class keeps them outside the main stream growth process and favours the rich non-performers".
Professor Akash in course offered a contour of ideas to achieve equitable growth and narrow the divide between rich and poor.
According to him, as I understand, collective ownership of all means of production, universal literacy, democratic land reform and reversal of traditional patron-client political structure are fitting tools to apply for achieving the desired objective.
Eminent banker, Khonkdar Ibrahim Khaled in his analytical write-up drew a geographical map of poverty situation in Bangladesh. In his opinion poverty zone comprised mainly rural and prosperity zone urban areas of the country. He further viewed that the gap between rich and poor is very wide and pointed to a strange contradiction that phenomenal growth and increase of national income simultaneously triggered further increase of number of poor multitude.
Ibrahim Khaled rolled out a plan for all pervasive rural development by massive pumping of capital and capability to rural economy to confront this ominous sign.
His development plan includes social safety net, agriculture, roads, bridges, health, education, markets, cottage, small, medium industries and the like, bringing the vast rural segment under banking network, making access to credit easy and universal. He thinks money wasted there is actually money earned.
As an elderly discerning person, I am highly excited to go through the police-format revealed by two very widely respected social scientists of our country to address the sordid situation; but at the same time become equally interested to know how they plan realization of their vision on the turf of patron-client political set-up and virulent model of market-economy stoked by limitless greed of corporate giants.
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