Why only blame pandemic and war, govt must also share its blame for rising poverty

Poverty could be almost eradicated from Bangladesh, if it was successful in containing ubiquitous corruption in the government and plundering of money from the state banks followed by capital flight from the country to foreign destinations. On the occasion of the International Day for Eradication of Poverty that was observed Monday, those who blame Covid-19 pandemic and Ukarine-Russia war for the increase in poverty in the country just see one side of the picture.

Bangladesh has not alone come through the pandemic and faced the impact of war. It seems Bangladesh is among the few countries which has become most devastated by these two global crises. When most people have come through hard times and unprecedented hardships, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is now telling the nation that even harder times are ahead for the nation.

It is not difficult to guess for most what the prime minister means by her prediction. The falling reserves in the central bank are inexorably inching towards what in the economy is known as ‘bankruptcy’. Indeed, even harder days are coming.

 
A great number of poor people over the last few decades in Bangladesh overcame their economic vulnerability through hard labour in farms, fields, factories and offices. In factories and offices people worked overtime. But ironically it is the government that took away the credit for this and claimed this was theirs.

The government depended on the remittance sent by expatriate workers doing hard work in foreign lands, but it never bothered to acknowledge their contribution to Bangladesh’s growing economy. The government constantly called it their own ‘development’ story, all the while allowing corruption and misuse of public funds.

Now when faced with crises, the government is hardly able to manage them. Due to inflation that reached 9.52 per cent-it is a figure provided by the government, in reality it could be much higher than this-most people who graduated from their poverty have now again fallen back into their previous state. Besides, unemployment has risen in society.

A survey conducted by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) in April last year found that 2.45 crore people could not withstand the economic shock of the pandemic and again fell into their previous state of poverty. Then people were again hit by the war that caused global supply chain disruptions resulting in food inflation.

The government could have tolerably managed the pandemic and the war, had it not itself eaten away or allowed vested people or agencies to eat away the vitals of the economy. Therefore, why alone the pandemic and the war, the government must also share its blame for people falling back into poverty.