Economist stresses farm reforms

Major structural change with agrarian-aquarian reform and entrepreneurship-based rural industrialisation are necessary to move the country toward equity-promoting development, said noted economist Anisur Rahman yesterday.
The mass entrepreneurship-based rural industrialisation drive should also be accompanied by relevant technical extension work, training programmes and extension work to promote high rates of savings by the rural people, he said.
Rahman also advocated strict control on imports of luxuries to help protect nascent domestic enterprises.
He was speaking on "The political economy of development with special reference to Bangladesh" in commemoration of Dr SR Bose.
Rahman delivered Dr SR Bose Memorial Speech at the 17th Biennial Conference of Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) at the city's Osmani Memorial Auditorium. Prof Sanath Kumar Saha chaired the session.
Bose was a renowned economist of the country.
The theme of the conference for this year was "The Economics of the Golden Jubilee of Independence: What type of Bangladesh we want to see?"
Rahman also said the state-guardianship should assess the areas of competitive advantages and arrangement of training for potential entrepreneurs, particularly from the rural areas.
The 'development-with-equity miracle' in the northeast Asian countries where the equal development has happened rested vitally on such guardianship, he said.
"Imports of luxuries should be controlled strictly, and such policy in Bangladesh shall perhaps require a social movement against ostentatious consumption to strengthen the hands of the government."
The state-guardianship in the concerned northeast Asian countries has the services of non colonial rule-oriented bureaucracies, a factor that for Bangladesh calls for some service reorientation as well in addition to the question of political partnership of bureaucrats, he said.
The present ruling party in Bangladesh has promised agrarian reform in its manifesto, but no move toward its implementation is yet visible, he said.
"Genuine agrarian-aquarian reform in the country will require a government truly committed to equity-promoting development," Rahman said.
International funding for large-scale projects also remained a strong leverage against reforms unfavourable with donors, and the party in power seems to be very keen for such assistance, he said.
He identified a few imperatives for equity-promoting development in Bangladesh. The imperatives include a state with a commitment to equity promoting development, agrarian-aquarian reform, mass literacy campaign and drive to take IT to the countryside.