Improving upazila governance is critical for Smart Bangladesh
Sound governance is a challenging task. People now have high expectations. Therefore, they look to elected leaders to create and sustain development of the economy, infrastructure, environment, and public utility services.
12 April 2023, 16:00 PM
Prioritise piped water supply in our municipalities
The municipal bodies must take water supply as their mandatory function more seriously and draw up a medium-term plan to bring 100 percent of urban population under a piped water supply network by 2030.
22 February 2023, 16:30 PM
The non-mystery behind Khulna city's declining population
Khulna, the third largest city of Bangladesh, with a current population of approximately 950,000 and land area spanning 40.8 square kilometres, is the only city in the country which has been experiencing a negative population growth over the last two decades.
6 January 2023, 12:00 PM
How do we overcome spatial inequality in Bangladesh?
Geographic inequalities can bring political tensions between local government leaders and national level policymakers and politicians.
20 December 2022, 15:00 PM
How to make roads more durable in Bangladesh
The paved road network in Bangladesh has increased dramatically from 600 km in 1947, to 3,600 km in 1971, to the current figure of 375,000 km.
23 November 2022, 14:00 PM
How to better connect Padma Bridge with south, southwestern Bangladesh
Improving road and railway connectivity is crucial for reaping the benefits of Padma Bridge.
28 August 2022, 13:05 PM
What should be Bangladesh’s food security strategy?
The rapid increase in global food prices in recent months have put many countries including Bangladesh in a crisis.
18 July 2022, 16:00 PM
Social protection needs more in next budget
The social protection allocation in the annual budget has consistently increased over the last 14 years. In FY 2008-09, a total of Tk 13,845 crore was allocated for social protection programmes.
4 June 2022, 18:00 PM
Time to conduct the next household survey
The Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), last conducted in 2016, is a comprehensive national survey in Bangladesh.
28 April 2022, 18:00 PM
A town with no plastic bottles or polythene bags
Recently, while visiting a small town in the south called Raozan, I was impressed to see how there were no empty plastic bottles or used polythene lying around.
26 March 2022, 18:00 PM
How many revisions does a development project need?
Despite the higher authorities’ public expression of dissatisfaction with frequent revisions of government projects, the practice of taking projects to ECNEC meetings to be granted deadline extensions, design changes, expansion of scope and budget enhancements has continued unabated.
26 February 2022, 18:00 PM
The costs and risks associated with rapid, unplanned urbanisation
A better understanding about the increasing economic importance of urban centres in national development is needed to shift the policy rhetoric towards increased urban investment.
18 February 2022, 18:00 PM
The curse of dowry still haunts the poor
I was shocked to know recently that my housemaid, who is a widow, had to pay for Tk 2 lakh worth of furniture and clothing for her daughter’s
5 January 2022, 18:00 PM
Develop Chattogram’s drainage system before more lives are lost
Chattogram, the country’s second largest city and home to its main sea port, with an estimated population of 52 lakh people, has been suffering from serious water-logging and drainage issues for a long time.
4 December 2021, 18:00 PM
For effective town planning, we must learn from past mistakes
Town planning is both a science and an art of designing and developing urban areas.
3 November 2021, 18:00 PM
The flip side of megaprojects
A megaproject is a large-scale, costly and complex venture, and its implementation usually takes several years.
3 October 2021, 18:00 PM
There’s still time to save Gazipur
The Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) area has seen a fast population growth over the last two decades.
27 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Using technologies is key to speeding up ADP execution
The implementation of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) in Bangladesh has been severely affected by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in the last 17 months.
12 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Rapid urbanisation and a rise in infectious diseases
Income growth leads to increased urbanisation, which due to higher concentration of the population in smaller geographical areas can cause higher rates of infectious diseases.
31 July 2021, 18:00 PM
Inclusive growth policies can reduce inequality in Bangladesh
Whether economic growth has an inherent mechanism to reduce both poverty and inequality has been extensively studied in developed and developing countries.
15 June 2021, 18:00 PM