Bangladesh does better than most S Asian nations

Bangladesh has done better than most South Asian countries in social progress, according to a report by Washington-based organisation Social Progress Imperative.
Ranked 99 among 132 countries, Bangladesh has scored higher than India, Pakistan and Nepal, losing out only to Sri Lanka in the region.

The evaluation was done based on the performance of these countries over the past one year.
The Social Progress Index, a multi-country analysis report, was released on Thursday.
It is prepared considering a country's ability to provide its citizens with basic needs and scopes to improve their lives, and whether or not the government can help people develop themselves to full potential.
And to accurately pinpoint a country's strong and weak points, it is compared with countries with a similar GDP.  
Some of Bangladesh's worst sides are limited freedom of religion, a restricted press and discrimination towards minorities, said the study.
To assess the religious scenario of a country, the study evaluated whether individuals are harassed over their attire or abused showing religious reasons, as well as the prevalence of sectarian violence in the country.
According to the index, Bangladesh's relative strength lay in bringing down child mortality, achieving gender parity in secondary school enrollment, improving life expectancy, showing respect to women, and its increased demand for contraception.  

And while Bangladesh fared well in improving sanitation facilities, India lagged behind on that category.
Similarly, the situation of slavery, underage marriage and human trafficking was deemed a weak point for India, whereas Bangladesh showed a lesser prevalence of that.
Bangladesh did better in this category compared to Pakistan as well.
Pakistan's situation of gender discrimination in secondary education was pointed out as a relative weakness.
The assessors were able to do a direct evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses between Bangladesh and Nepal as the two countries belong to the same GDP per capita bracket.
Bangladesh fared better than Nepal in providing electricity and ensuring more freedom of assembly.
The study showed that women in Nepal suffer more than their counterparts in Bangladesh.
The people of Bangladesh also spend more years in colleges or universities than those of Nepal, it said.
However, the study pointed out that Nepal has a greater tolerance for homosexuality than Bangladesh. Similarly, Bangladesh hosts a more religiously intolerant landscape than Nepal.