Barkat contradicts govt figure of the poor
Noted economist Abul Barkat yesterday contradicted the government's estimate of the number of poor in the country, saying the country's 83 percent population is now poor, not the 32 percent the government claims.
“When commodity prices go up in the market, the employment does not increase and the real income reduces, then the lower-middle income group should be regarded as the poor class.”
“From this consideration, the country's 12.43 crore people are poor out of the total 15 crore population. This 83 percent people are always deprived,” he said.
Barkat, also the chairman of the Economics Department at Dhaka University, said the yardstick of measuring poverty by 2,122 kilocalorie or Tk 67 (1 dollar) a day is flawed.
There is an international standard that people who consume less than 2,122 kilocalorie of food or earn less than one dollar a day are poor.
“I think anything that prevents people from living a complete life should be a yardstick to measure poverty,” he said.
Barkat lectured on “Understanding Poverty: The Case of Bangladesh” at the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh in the city.
He said: “It would take 200 to 300 more years to eradicate poverty nationally given the steps the constitution has stated to take to ensure poverty alleviation and the trend we can see in reality.”
Barket said Bangladesh economy has fallen into the 'Criminalisation trap' and it is reproducing poverty. “If we cannot change the scenario, the poverty alleviation will not be possible.”
The powerful people have created a cycle of black economy. “This economy creates Tk 75,000-Tk 80,000 crores of taka annually, which is one-fifth of the national income.”
Barkat, also the chairman of Janata Bank Ltd, suggested the policy makers adopt strategies based on homegrown development philosophy for reducing poverty.
Prof Sirajul Islam, president of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, and Prof Mahfuza Khanam, general secretary of the society, also spoke.
Comments