Let's roll on: We have done much better
K M Zubair Sadeque, Duquesne University Pittsburgh, USA
The recent revelation that the rate of poverty is decreasing at a rate of one per cent every year is indeed a great news. The fact that poverty rate decreased by only two per cent during the mid 80s to early 90s, and that it came down by 10 per cent during the 90s, is a powerful indication of the benefits we are reaping from democracy. We have achieved a lot. Our population growth rate is one of the lowest in South Asia. In human development, our position is second in Asia, next to China (seems counter-intuitive but the figures speak for themselves). I believe the efforts of the numerous NGOs were instrumental in achieving such progresses. The fact that we have been able to achieve all these despite having such a large population and too few natural resources is indeed a tremendous achievement. The people of Bangladesh possess extra-ordinary resilience in the face of disastrous natural calamities that strike us too often. I am sure many countries, if they were in our position, could not have achieved what we did. It is true that we have a lot more to do. The fact that 40 per cent of the population is still living below the poverty line is an indication of our task ahead. Poor governance, corruption, law and order situation, etc. pose major challenges to our further progress. What matters most though is that we have hopes for the future. As people become more educated and empowered, they will become more conscientious of their rights and would elect people to power who would not make hollow promises, but work hard to turn election pledges into reality. We will see then that even faster development is occurring in all spheres of our society. We can hope that someday our future generations, if not our own generation, will feel proud of being Bangladeshis. Let's roll on.
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Photo: AFP |
