GDP growth minus dignity pointless
Mere economic growth, at any cost and devoid of human dignity and equal rights, will be disastrous, noted personalities told a discussion in the capital yesterday.
“Economic growth would hardly mean anything without dignity, security, rights and sense of ownership of the people,” said noted human rights activist advocate Sultana Kamal while conducting the session.
Tragedies like the Rana Plaza collapse, Tazreen factory fire and every day road accidents will keep recurring unless corruption stops, she said. Economic growth through corrupt means at the cost of people's dignity and equality is not acceptable as corruption kills a society, she said, adding that a state is never sovereign unless and until every individual citizen is.
The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) organised the two-day discussion, “Critical Conversation 2016: The Bangladesh Journey”, at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in economic growth, poverty reduction, lowering mother and child malnutrition and advancing women over the past couple of decades despite poor or a lack of governance, said BIDS Research Director Dr Binayak Sen.
Even if governance is found statistically uncorrelated with economic growth, it is important for fostering human development and social cohesion, he said.
Misgovernance influences inequality which, in turn, affects democracy, said Binayak while giving a presentation on “democracy, governance and development”.
Barrister Tania Amir, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said it was critical to examine at what cost the economic growth was achieved. The question is whether it is holistic and sustainable, “otherwise we end up in a society not sustainable”, she said.
“Mere economic growth blatantly disregarding other indicators of human wellbeing is cancerous. The growth process has to ensure compliance with the recognised norms and standards, otherwise it will lead only to arbitrariness and chaos,” she said.
It is a sheer fallacy that human rights and dignity can be taken away on the plea of security; this approach just makes people feel insecure, she said.
Commenting on a presentation by a senior BIDS research fellow, Dr Monzur Hossain, at a “Land Question” session, Prof MM Akash of Dhaka University said the move for acquiring agricultural land from tea gardens in Habiganj and the prime minister's vow not to lose any more arable land for other purposes was inconsistent. He called for optimising available land with a “land bank”.
Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, said khas lands were possessed by the politically powerful and were not distributed equally among the deserving. Moderating the session, Economic Research Group Executive Director Dr Sajjad Zohir said land was a resource which yields as much economic benefits as optimised.
Dhaka Tribune Editor Zafar Sobhan, BIDS Professorial Fellow Dr Asaduzzaman and BIDS Research Director Dr KA Toufique spoke in the two sessions.
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