‘Aspiration without values can cause rent-seeking, hooliganism’

Aspiration can lead people to development, but this can also encourage them to go for rent-seeking and hooliganism if the aspiration is not associated with values, eminent economist Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud said today.

"So, aspiration should be associated with values. If these two can be coordinated, the momentum of the development accelerates."

He was speaking at a seminar titled "Aspirational Momentum: The Development Story of Bangladesh", organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) at the Lakeshore Hotel in Dhaka.

Infant mortality has reduced in Bangladesh faster than other countries, he said.

The use of oral saline for diarrhoea, use of vaccines, reduction of women fertility rates due to their involvement in job sectors played a vital role in reducing infant mortality, he added.

He said there has been a big shift in investing in children now rather than the number of children.

People are now more cautious about the quality of education and healthcare children are getting, not about the number of children.