Speakers at roundtable in Dhaka yesterday emphasised strengthening the country's local government institutions to remove poverty through implementation of village plans in rural areas.
“The village plans have to be created. The local government has to take the responsibility of formulating the village plans,” said Prof Mozaffer Ahmad, an eminent economist and chairman of Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB).
The roundtable on 'Poverty, Inequality and National Budget' was organised by Hunger-project, Bangladesh at the Cirdap auditorium.
Speakers also advocated setting up more agro-based industries to create employment to fight against poverty.
The TIB chief said an effective local government system is necessary to implement the development budget. “The central government has to provide necessary revenues to the local government institutions proportionate to their levels.”
The country's water bodies including rivers, canals and beels should be rescued from land grabbers and properly utilised for agro-based development, he added.
Former members of parliament Abdur Razzak and GM Kader, Country Director of Hunger Project, Bangladesh Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, FBCCI member Jamal Uddin, President of Samajik Andolon Ajoy Roy and former vice president of Bangladesh Economic Association Prof Hanna Begum, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Describing the proposed budget as unrealistic Abdur Razzak said the government has tried to please the people but eventually there is a doubt among people as to how it would benefit them.
Razzak, an Awami League leader, stressed the need for taking proper initiatives for establishing agro-based industries with allocation of adequate funds for that. Jute and sugar industries can never be losing sectors in the country, he added.
GM Kader, a Jatiya Party leader, said the budget should be implemented properly so that the poor classes can get their proportionate share. He also suggested a review of the budget every six-month.
He said there is a big challenge for Bangladesh to put in place a stable economy. “The political situation will not be stable if the economic condition remains unstable.”
Dr Badiul Alam Majumder presented a keynote paper at the roundtable where he said poverty might increase in the country unless inflation is kept at a tolerable level.