Flawed govt dev policies create discrimination
People from marginal communities, including women, farmers and Adivasis, continue to be discriminated and neglected due to the government's “flawed” and “impractical” development policies, observed discussants yesterday.
They were addressing a dialogue on “Development, People's Option and Space: 30 Years of Fighting Poverty, Injustice and Exclusion”, organised by ActionAid Bangladesh in the capital's Chhayant building auditorium.
Munir Ahmed, president of Kendrio Krishak Moitree, a platform of grass roots level farmers, said farmers invest in their crops, but cannot profit from it due to an “unfair” system in the country.
“The people who sell equipment to farmers are becoming richer and richer every day, while farmers themselves are becoming poorer and poorer as they are cheated,” he added.
He criticised the government's existing policies for giving loan to farmers and warned that in near future the country will not have any farmers as people will leave the profession.
Workers Party lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha alleged that the state was not working to protect farmers' rights rather it was looking after multinational bodies.
Sulekha Mrong, executive director of Achik-Michik Society, a NGO working for women's rights in Tangail, alleged that the government has been violating rights of the indigenous communities by evicting Adivasis from their land.
Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, echoed Sulekha.
Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, among others, spoke at the programme.
At the programme, four women were awarded the Nasrin Smriti Padak-2014 for their contribution to disaster management and women empowerment.
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