Editorial
Life in harsh poverty
WB study merits consideration
POVERTY remains a menacing presence in the country, despite the otherwise positive indicators of development in a variety of areas. A World Bank study puts it all in perspective when it speaks of around 2.8 crore Bangladeshis living through harsh conditions in 1,144 unions dispersed across char, hilly and coastal areas. That is surely a worrying thought, given that these places have formally been characterized in the report as Hard to Reach Areas. The worry is two-pronged. First, we needed a World Bank study to apprise ourselves of the terrible conditions in which these people live. Second, we wonder why in all these years of much-touted development economics, the plight of these people was never brought to general notice.
A study of the report certainly makes dismal reading because these 2.8 crore citizens appear to be inhabiting a world out of the reach of modernity. When there are areas, especially in the char regions, where even safe drinking water cannot be ensured, there are reasons to question part, if not all, of the efforts geared to economic progress. Add to that the serious matter of high child mortality, again a result of poor or non-existent health facilities, and what you have is a situation absolutely at variance with what is happening elsewhere in the country. Natural disasters, we may as well inform ourselves, are phenomena that remain unchecked in these 1,144 unions.
Parliament ought to have discussed the issue on its own. Planning strategists should not have missed out on these hapless people. Now that the WB has raised the question, can we expect government and non-government action in the area? Poverty anywhere is an impediment to prosperity everywhere. It is a truth we cannot ignore.
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