Education sector at a crossroads
Education sector at a crossroads The Financial Express, Feb. 1st. 2012 Syed Yamin Bakht The country’s education sector is at a crossroads. Although some progress has been made in the spread of primary education, hardly any improvement has taken place at the secondary level while the quality of higher education has largely declined over the past two decades or so. The country’s literacy rate — functional literacy at that, it is claimed — is presently hovering at around 56 per cent. This means 56 people out of 100 on an average are able to “write a letter for communication”. Moreover, there exists a gender disparity as the literacy rates among men is 62 per cent and it is 51 per cent among women. The government currently spends about 14 per cent of the national budget or about 2.3 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) on the education sector, which is lower than the other regional countries. Of the total government allocation, primary education understandably receives the lion’s share of about 45 per cent, secondary education 22 per cent and higher or tertiary education receives about 33 per cent. Over the past two decades, the government has rightly placed increased emphasis on improving the primary education sector around the country. Although the initiatives taken so far have yielded some positive results, much more needs to be done to improve the overall quality of primary education. The focus has so far been on increasing the spread of primary education with little attention being given towards improving the quality. Following adoption of the Education for All agenda in the early 1990s, the gross enrolment rate in primary school has presently increased to over 90 per cent from 68 per cent. Gender parity has been largely achieved with increased enrolment of girls. However, the dropout rate still remains very high, particularly in the rural areas. According to official estimates, some 50 per cent of the students enrolled drop out before completing primary education. This indicates a reversal of an earlier improvement trend when the primary education completion rate improved from 43 per cent 1990 to 70 per cent in 1998. The overall quality of primary education also remains poor, with a shortage of proper classrooms and teachers particularly in the rural areas. Other problems which have been identified include inadequately trained teachers, high teacher-student ratios and the lack of proper books, supplies and facilities. Thus, the target set in the National Education Policy 2009 of achieving a 100 per cent literacy rate by 2014 and a 100 per cent primary education completion rate by 2015 is unlikely to be realised. The secondary-level education has hardly seen any improvement in recent years. In fact, policy-level focus on improving the secondary education sector has largely been absent. According to a survey by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, overcrowding at the secondary level is common as the number of schools has simply not expanded to accommodate all those graduating from primary schools. The secondary school enrolment rate presently stands at only around 44 per cent. The issue of quality is also a big concern in the secondary education sector. With high dropout rates, the secondary schools are beset with problems like high teacher-student ratios, inadequately trained teachers, inefficient management of schools, poor enforcement of rules and regulations and inadequate learning materials and facilities. In fact, the quality of education in the secondary schools is showing a declining trend. A survey conducted by the Campaign for Popular Education found that in 1999, of the students who entered the 6th grade about 31 per cent survived till the 10th grade examination, but only 20 per cent did so in 2008. With the declining standard of education at the secondary and higher secondary level, the demand for private tutors has increased tremendously. As a result, there has been a mushrooming growth of coaching centres around the country in recent years. At the tertiary level education, access and fairness remains a major obstacle. Here again, maintaining quality standards is a big problem. In addition to Bangladesh National University and Bangladesh Open University, there are some 30 public universities in the country. Higher education in these institutions is heavily subsidised by the government and is virtually free. With many of the students in these institutions coming from well-off families, subsidsing their education is something the cash-strapped government can ill afford. The quality in these public higher education institutions is also showing a declining trend. The public universities cannot attract quality teachers any more because of the poor pay scale, having to compete with the private universities now. The academic environment has deteriorated considerably because of the negative brand of campus politics practised by a section of both students and teachers. Since the Private University Act was adopted in 1992, the number of private universities has increased rapidly and stands at around 61 today. Although this has somewhat increased the access to higher education opportunities within the country, the cost of education in these institutions remains prohibitively expensive. Moreover, minimum uniform academic standards are not maintained in most of these institutions because of the weak regulatory framework. Despite the recent growth in the number of higher education institutions, both the public and private higher education institutions in the country together are still unable to provide opportunities for the increasing number of eligible students willing to go for higher studies. As a result, a large number of students are going abroad to pursue higher studies. Another important area that has been largely neglected by the government policymakers is the development of the technical and vocational education sector. This area has hardly developed over the years. Improvements in technical and vocational education could help the students who cannot pursue higher studies to acquire other employable skills. Development of this sector will enable the country to produce skilled manpower in large numbers to meet the growing needs of the economy. In addition, skilled workers earning higher wages can be exported to
The Shanghai Secret
The New York Times October 22, 2013 The Shanghai Secret By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN SHANGHAI — Whenever I visit China, I am struck by the sharply divergent predictions of its future one hears. Lately, a number of global investors have been “shorting” China, betting that someday soon its powerful economic engine will sputter, as the real estate boom here turns to a bust. Frankly, if I were shorting China today, it would not be because of the real estate bubble, but because of the pollution bubble that is increasingly enveloping some of its biggest cities. Optimists take another view: that, buckle in, China is just getting started, and that what we’re now about to see is the payoff from China’s 30 years of investment in infrastructure and education. I’m not a gambler, so I’ll just watch this from the sidelines. But if you’re looking for evidence as to why the optimistic bet isn’t totally crazy, you might want to visit a Shanghai elementary school. I’ve traveled here with Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America, and the leaders of the Teach for All programs modeled on Teach for America that are operating in 32 countries. We’re visiting some of the highest- and lowest-performing schools in China to try to uncover The Secret — how is it that Shanghai’s public secondary schools topped the world charts in the 2009 PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) exams that measure the ability of 15-year-olds in 65 countries to apply what they’ve learned in math, science and reading. After visiting Shanghai’s Qiangwei Primary School, with 754 students — grades one through five — and 59 teachers, I think I found The Secret: There is no secret. When you sit in on a class here and meet with the principal and teachers, what you find is a relentless focus on all the basics that we know make for high-performing schools but that are difficult to pull off consistently across an entire school system. These are: a deep commitment to teacher training, peer-to-peer learning and constant professional development, a deep involvement of parents in their children’s learning, an insistence by the school’s leadership on the highest standards and a culture that prizes education and respects teachers. Shanghai’s secret is simply its ability to execute more of these fundamentals in more of its schools more of the time. Take teacher development. Shen Jun, Qiangwei’s principal, who has overseen its transformation in a decade from a low-performing to a high-performing school — even though 40 percent of her students are children of poorly educated migrant workers — says her teachers spend about 70 percent of each week teaching and 30 percent developing teaching skills and lesson planning. That is far higher than in a typical American school. Teng Jiao, 26, an English teacher here, said school begins at 8:35 a.m. and runs to 4:30 p.m., during which he typically teaches three 35-minute lessons. I sat in on one third-grade English class. The English lesson was meticulously planned, with no time wasted. The rest of his day, he said, is spent on lesson planning, training online or with his team, having other teachers watch his class and tell him how to improve and observing the classrooms of master teachers. “You see so many teaching techniques that you can apply to your own classroom,” he remarks. Education experts will tell you that of all the things that go into improving a school, nothing — not class size, not technology, not length of the school day — pays off more than giving teachers the time for peer review and constructive feedback, exposure to the best teaching and time to deepen their knowledge of what they’re teaching. Teng said his job also includes “parent training.” Parents come to the school three to five times a semester to develop computer skills so they can better help their kids with homework and follow lessons online. Christina Bao, 29, who also teaches English, said she tries to chat either by phone or online with the parents of each student two or three times a week to keep them abreast of their child’s progress. “I will talk to them about what the students are doing at school.” She then alluded matter-of-factly to a big cultural difference here, “I tell them not to beat them if they are not doing well.” In 2003, Shanghai had a very “average” school system, said Andreas Schleicher, who runs the PISA exams. “A decade later, it’s leading the world and has dramatically decreased variability between schools.” He, too, attributes this to the fact that, while in America a majority of a teacher’s time in school is spent teaching, in China’s best schools, a big chunk is spent learning from peers and personal development. As a result, he said, in places like Shanghai, “the system is good at attracting average people and getting enormous productivity out of them,” while also, “getting the best teachers in front of the most difficult classrooms.” China still has many mediocre schools that need fixing. But the good news is that in just doing the things that American and Chinese educators know work — but doing them systematically and relentlessly — Shanghai has in a decade lifted some of its schools to the global heights in reading, science and math skills. Oh, and Shen Jun, the principal, wanted me to know: “This is just the start.”
On benefits of infrastructure
The main benefits of infrastructure come from marketing of inputs and outputs. Market orientation has increased over time more in villages with developed (good roads) rather than underdeveloped roads. For example — as shown by a survey of households spreading over 62 villages, the share of marketed paddy in 1988 was 44 per cent in developed villages. But by 2008, the share shot up to 56 per cent. On the other hand, distress sales in developed villages have drastically gone down. The reason may be that factors that fuel distress sales have weakened in developed villages possibly due to infrastructural development. The impacts of infrastructure on some key economic indicators can be captured by regression analysis. While there could some correlation between infrastructure and economic variables, the establishment of a causal link warrants that the dependent variables be regressed upon the explanatory factors. To this effect, Dr Mahabub Hossain and Abdul Bayes regressed the factors on access to paved roads and electricity. The authors have taken non-farm incomes as the dependent variables and regressed upon roads and electricity (independent variables). The regression appears as a good fit. The adjusted R2 at 0.57 implies that, 57 per cent of the variations in non-agricultural income is influenced by independent factors. For example, non-agricultural capital and workers, the presence of member working abroad and electricity emerge as highly significant factors affecting rural non-farm income. Access to quality roads does not appear as a powerful factor in explaining the variations in income levels. However, taking the dominant variables into account, the researchers ran a second round step-wise regression. The regression function emerges as better fit showing an adjusted R2 value at 0.69 and F=415. This time, again, non-agricultural worker and non-agricultural capital continue to impinge significant impact on household income. Likewise, agricultural capital and member working abroad also showed up as significant contributors to non-farm income. An interaction of electricity and non-farm worker (to avoid multicollinearity) shows that the variable is highly significant in explaining variations in non-farm income. It means that access to electricity enhances the productivity of rural non-farm workers and, thus, contributes to increased income. The estimated elasticity on this count is observed to be 0.17, implying that there occurs a rise of income by 17 per cent following the availability of electricity. Similarly, interaction between roads and non-farm worker also positively affects income and as per the elasticity coefficient, the income rises by 6.0 per cent due to access to roads. Overall, access to electricity and roads tend to increase household income by 23 per cent. It is thus observed that access to quality roads and electricity (or to any of them) is likely to positively affect non-farm income of households. The policy implication of this observation is obvious: government should invest in rural infrastructure – especially in the construction of roads and providing electricity – with a view to raising the income levels of rural households. Fortunately, these findings are in consort with those for China and India. The impact of infrastructure on poverty is also well researched. Various studies eloquently exposed the differential impacts of infrastructure on poverty level in India. According to the researchers, additional expenditure on roads is found to have the largest impact on poverty reduction as well as a significant effect on productivity growth in rural India. The access leads to larger benefits to the rural poor and emerges as dominant “win-win” strategy. The researchers suggest that the government of India should pick up roads for investment, in case of any choice has to be made in allocating scarce funds among alternative investment purposes. More specifically, they focused on agricultural research and extension of roads as the panacea to poverty reduction. Bangladesh’s experience also stands close to the Indian experience. For example, in a survey of households spreading over 62 villages, all sample households experienced decline in extreme poverty over time, but the reduction was higher in developed villages – with good roads – compared to others with bad roads. For example, between 1988 and 2008, extreme poverty declined by 2 percentage point per annum in developed villages as opposed to roughly 1 percentage point in other villages. In fact, the poverty reduction in developed villages was higher than the estimated national average. The same trend holds true in the case of other measures of poverty. As far as inequality of income is concerned, the results are not seemingly so encouraging. First, between 1988 and 2008, inequality in income – as reflected by the higher gini ratio of household income – has increased in all sample villages. Noticeably, however, the distribution of income over time appears to be strikingly skewed in developed villages. Maybe, the opportunities created by better roads and electricity has largely been reaped by the top income deciles in developed villages. If we look at the sources of inequality, we observe that inequality is higher where trade and business are major sources of income. For example, in developed villages, trade and business contributed 40 per cent of the inequality (relative contribution to pseudo gini) in 2008 compared to 13 per cent in 1988. In semi-developed villages also, trade and business continued to impart a pervasive influence in generating inequality. Since, expansion of trade and business is mainly a function of financial and human capital, it is not unlikely that upper income groups in rural areas tend to overtake others to contribute to greater inequality. On the other hand, cultivation as a source of inequality declined in all villages possibly due to the fact that small and marginal farmers are engaged in it and their share is growing over time. Again, the inequality in income from non-rice crops increased during the same period of time for all villages. But income from wage labour has been more equaliser than other sources of income. And finally, income from remittances continues to remain as the most dominant source of inequality (pseudo gini ratio 0.60-0.70) in rural areas. However, there seems to be a marginal
On benefits of infrastructure
The main benefits of infrastructure come from marketing of inputs and outputs. Market orientation has increased over time more in villages with developed (good roads) rather than underdeveloped roads. For example — as shown by a survey of households spreading over 62 villages, the share of marketed paddy in 1988 was 44 per cent in developed villages. But by 2008, the share shot up to 56 per cent. On the other hand, distress sales in developed villages have drastically gone down. The reason may be that factors that fuel distress sales have weakened in developed villages possibly due to infrastructural development. The impacts of infrastructure on some key economic indicators can be captured by regression analysis. While there could some correlation between infrastructure and economic variables, the establishment of a causal link warrants that the dependent variables be regressed upon the explanatory factors. To this effect, Dr Mahabub Hossain and Abdul Bayes regressed the factors on access to paved roads and electricity. The authors have taken non-farm incomes as the dependent variables and regressed upon roads and electricity (independent variables). The regression appears as a good fit. The adjusted R2 at 0.57 implies that, 57 per cent of the variations in non-agricultural income is influenced by independent factors. For example, non-agricultural capital and workers, the presence of member working abroad and electricity emerge as highly significant factors affecting rural non-farm income. Access to quality roads does not appear as a powerful factor in explaining the variations in income levels. However, taking the dominant variables into account, the researchers ran a second round step-wise regression. The regression function emerges as better fit showing an adjusted R2 value at 0.69 and F=415. This time, again, non-agricultural worker and non-agricultural capital continue to impinge significant impact on household income. Likewise, agricultural capital and member working abroad also showed up as significant contributors to non-farm income. An interaction of electricity and non-farm worker (to avoid multicollinearity) shows that the variable is highly significant in explaining variations in non-farm income. It means that access to electricity enhances the productivity of rural non-farm workers and, thus, contributes to increased income. The estimated elasticity on this count is observed to be 0.17, implying that there occurs a rise of income by 17 per cent following the availability of electricity. Similarly, interaction between roads and non-farm worker also positively affects income and as per the elasticity coefficient, the income rises by 6.0 per cent due to access to roads. Overall, access to electricity and roads tend to increase household income by 23 per cent. It is thus observed that access to quality roads and electricity (or to any of them) is likely to positively affect non-farm income of households. The policy implication of this observation is obvious: government should invest in rural infrastructure – especially in the construction of roads and providing electricity – with a view to raising the income levels of rural households. Fortunately, these findings are in consort with those for China and India. The impact of infrastructure on poverty is also well researched. Various studies eloquently exposed the differential impacts of infrastructure on poverty level in India. According to the researchers, additional expenditure on roads is found to have the largest impact on poverty reduction as well as a significant effect on productivity growth in rural India. The access leads to larger benefits to the rural poor and emerges as dominant “win-win” strategy. The researchers suggest that the government of India should pick up roads for investment, in case of any choice has to be made in allocating scarce funds among alternative investment purposes. More specifically, they focused on agricultural research and extension of roads as the panacea to poverty reduction. Bangladesh’s experience also stands close to the Indian experience. For example, in a survey of households spreading over 62 villages, all sample households experienced decline in extreme poverty over time, but the reduction was higher in developed villages – with good roads – compared to others with bad roads. For example, between 1988 and 2008, extreme poverty declined by 2 percentage point per annum in developed villages as opposed to roughly 1 percentage point in other villages. In fact, the poverty reduction in developed villages was higher than the estimated national average. The same trend holds true in the case of other measures of poverty. As far as inequality of income is concerned, the results are not seemingly so encouraging. First, between 1988 and 2008, inequality in income – as reflected by the higher gini ratio of household income – has increased in all sample villages. Noticeably, however, the distribution of income over time appears to be strikingly skewed in developed villages. Maybe, the opportunities created by better roads and electricity has largely been reaped by the top income deciles in developed villages. If we look at the sources of inequality, we observe that inequality is higher where trade and business are major sources of income. For example, in developed villages, trade and business contributed 40 per cent of the inequality (relative contribution to pseudo gini) in 2008 compared to 13 per cent in 1988. In semi-developed villages also, trade and business continued to impart a pervasive influence in generating inequality. Since, expansion of trade and business is mainly a function of financial and human capital, it is not unlikely that upper income groups in rural areas tend to overtake others to contribute to greater inequality. On the other hand, cultivation as a source of inequality declined in all villages possibly due to the fact that small and marginal farmers are engaged in it and their share is growing over time. Again, the inequality in income from non-rice crops increased during the same period of time for all villages. But income from wage labour has been more equaliser than other sources of income. And finally, income from remittances continues to remain as the most dominant source of inequality (pseudo gini ratio 0.60-0.70) in rural areas. However, there seems to be a marginal
Two sides of Brand Bangladesh
Like the Greek god Janus Bangladesh as a brand name to outsiders reveals two sides. But unlike the Greek god’s image the two sides in brand Bangladesh are not alike. Far from being a simulacrum of each other they are in stark contrast. Take the most recent example publicised in print an electronic media prominently and graphically. The department of environment seized 10 bulldozers of the Korean Export Processing Zone Authority (KEPZA) in Chittagong for allegedly illegal hill cutting. According to the department permission was given for ‘hill dressing’ and not for ‘hill cutting’; the difference between the two was left unexplained by the spokesman. The yellow earth freshly levelled from hills depicted in photos shows that even if the allegation is true the action taken by the department was very much like the proverbial case of closing the barn door after the horse had bolted. Even a cursory look at the site indicate that it took weeks and not days for the hills to be cut and levelled the way it has been done. What was the department doing during this time? If they were as vigilant and active as their action purportedly claims, violation by the KEPZA would have been noticed within days allowing the department to prevent the damage. It is not only the hills that have been the alleged victims, the image of Bangladesh as an investment-friendly country has also received a blow. It has shown the lackadaisical manner in which investors, local and foreign, are treated by concerned government agencies most of the time. If someone imputes motives to such errant behaviour as seen in the KEPZA case one may not be wide off the mark. The other side of brand Bangladesh is that in spite of the many aberrations from the ideal investment environment foreign investors are coming forward with money, technology and experience to invest in Bangladesh. Some of them are very patient, so patient that it beggars belief. KEPZA could not launch their operation in full swing even after 17 years and yet hung on inspired by hope. According to a newspaper report the government handed over land for the zone in 1999 but issued operational license only in 2007. The deed of transfer was not completed at the time as a result of which KEPZA could not lease out industrial plots to potential investors. It is a measure of the attraction of brand Bangladesh that the Korean investors behind KEPZA did not give up and continued with their weary plodding through the thickets of formalities and put up with the snail’s pace at which things moved in the official labyrinth. The tenacity to hold on to their attraction for investment in Bangladesh against odds is the bright side of brand Bangladesh. Behind it are, of course, various incentives given by the government of Bangladesh and opportunities available in the market, particularly availability of cheap labour. The pull of these incentive are being pushed out by the difficulties created by the absence of required infrastructures and the presence of a bureaucracy that is lukewarm about making it easy for foreign investors to work in Bangladesh. As of now the balance of ‘pull’ and ‘push’ factors has worked to the advantage of Bangladesh. Foreign investment has not declined over the years giving cause for concern, but neither has it spiked continuously, not to speak of significantly. According to the World Competitive Index, a report prepared by the World Economic Forum, Bangladesh slipped one point in 2011 from the previous year and was placed at 177. It is small comfort that Bangladesh is above India in the global competitive index because the need for India to attract FDI is not as strong and urgent as is the case with Bangladesh. A report prepared by the Japan Bank for International Co-operation shows that Bangladesh though continues to be an attractive investment destination has slipped one step and is now placed at 16th position compared to 15th in 2010. The Japan External Trade Organisation has revealed in its report that Bangladesh is gradually losing its attractiveness to foreign investors because of relatively high and growing investment costs and a wide gap between existing government policies and their implementation. The World Bank’s Worldwide Governmental Indicators (WGI) has also come up with a similar report that shows very poor performance of Bangladesh in the areas of rule of law, government effectiveness and regulatory quality, all of which are among important determinants of a country’s investment climate. The World Bank Report has mentioned some of the problems that have faced investors for a long time. These are well-known and familiar to any investor, local or foreign, and are almost given. But the familiarity and inevitability do not attenuate their damaging impact on investment. Mentioning these one by one, the World Bank Report has observed that infrastructure services is very poor in Bangladesh which increases the cost of doing business in the country. The biggest concern, according to the Bank, is the electricity supply which is available to about 59.3 per cent of people. Frequent power failure compounds the problem, particularly for investors. According to the report of the Bank port services in Bangladesh are worse than in any other Asian country. The Report points out that much of the problem is centred in Chittagong port which is plagued by labour problems, poor management and lack of equipments. hasnat.hye5@gmail.com Reference Download : Two sides of Brand Bangladesh
স্মৃতির মিরগড়
খন্দকার মাহমুদুল হাসান জেলা শহর পঞ্চগড়ের কেন্দ্রভাগে ঢোকার মুখেই মস্ত এক সড়কসেতু। করতোয়া নদীর ওপরে নির্মিত এই সেতু পার হয়ে লোকজনকে জিজ্ঞেস করলাম, মিরগড় কোথায়, কোনদিকে? বেশ সহযোগিতাও পেলাম। শান্তস্নিগ্ধ প্রকৃতিকে সাথী করে বেশ সহজেই পৌঁছে গেলাম মিরগড় বাজারে। যেহেতু শহর থেকে মাত্র তিন কিলোমিটার দূরেই এর অবস্থান এবং রাস্তা পাকা, তাই পঞ্চগড় শহর থেকে মিরগড় বাজারে পৌঁছানো খুবই সোজা ব্যাপার। তবে আসল ব্যাপারটা যত সহজ হবে বলে ভেবেছিলাম, মোটেই তত সহজ হলো না। মিরগড় বাজারে এসে বহুজনকে জিজ্ঞেস করলাম প্রাচীন দুর্গ মিরগড়ের কথা। কিন্তু তারা কেউই এর সন্ধান দিতে পারলেন না। যে দুর্গের নামে জায়গাটার নাম রাখা হয়েছে, তার কথাই লোকজন ভুলে গেছে। ব্যাপারটাকে অবিশ্বাস্য বলে মনে হলো। বিস্মৃতিপরায়ণ জাতি বলে কথা। আরো আশ্চর্যের ব্যাপার হলো বহুজনই আমার প্রশ্ন শুনে যেন আকাশ থেকে পড়লেন। মনে হলো, এ জীবনে আমার আগে কেউই এ প্রশ্ন তাদের করেননি। হাল তবুও ছাড়লাম না। কারণ যাদের জিজ্ঞেস করছিলাম তারা সবাই বয়সে নবীন। পুরনো ইতিহাসের খবর তাদের নাও জানা থাকতে পারে। তাই প্রবীণ কারো সঙ্গে কথা বলার আশায় এগিয়ে গেলাম আরো সামনে। কিন্তু একটা জায়গায় এসে পথ দুভাগে ভাগ হয়ে গেল। একটা পথ গেছে ডানে, অন্যটি বাঁয়ে। বড়ই দ্ব›েদ্ব পড়ে গেলাম। এমন সময় সামনের মসজিদে জামাতে নামাজ পড়া শেষে বেরিয়ে এলেন একদল মুসল্লি। তাদের প্রশ্নটা জিজ্ঞেস করতেই পেছন থেকে এক উঠতি যুবক বলে উঠলেন, হ্যাঁ, হ্যাঁ, চিনি চিনি। বুঝলাম নবীনরাও ইতিহাসের খোঁজ রাখেন। তবে একই সঙ্গে তিনি হতাশাব্যঞ্জক একটা সংবাদও দিলেন। তা হলো মিরগড় দুর্গ এবং দুর্গপ্রাচীরটা কোথায় ছিল তা দেখা যাবে, কিন্তু পুরো প্রাচীরই এখন নিশ্চিহ্ন হয়ে গেছে। বড় একটি চোট পেলাম মনে কিন্তু ঢাকা থেকে ৫শ কিলোমিটারের বেশি পথ পেরিয়ে এসে তো আর ফিরে যাওয়া চলবে না। তাই দুধের স্বাদ ঘোলে মেটানোর আশায় পথে নামলাম। সবাই জানেন, পঞ্চগড় জেলার বেশিরভাগ এলাকা ১৯৪৭ সালের আগে জলপাইগুড়ি জেলার অন্তর্গত ছিল এবং জলপাইগুড়ি জেলা সদর এই জেলার সীমান্ত থেকে খুব বেশি দূরে নয়। সে যা-ই হোক, পুরনো কালের পাঁচটি দুর্গ বা গড়ের কারণে এই জেলার নাম হয়েছে পঞ্চগড়। আরো একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ তথ্য হলো, এই এলাকাটা আগে কামরূপ রাজ্যের অন্তর্গত ছিল। রাজায় রাজায় যুদ্ধও হতো সেকালে এবং সেসব প্রয়োজনে দুর্গও নির্মাণ করা হতো। পঞ্চগড়ের পাঁচটি দুর্গের মধ্যে ভিতরগড়, বোদেশ্বরী গড়, দুটি পৃথক মিরগড় ও হোসেন গড়ের নাম জানা যায়। এর মধ্যে হোসেনগড় ও একটি মিরগড় অনেক আগেই বিলুপ্ত হয়েছে। অন্য মিরগড়টি দেখার আশায় এখানে আসা। মিরগড় দুর্গ এলাকার নিকটবর্তী হতেই কাকতালীয়ভাবে দেখা হয়ে গেল এক ভদ্রলোকের সঙ্গে। বড়ই সাহায্য করলেন তিনি এ যাত্রায়। তিনি পঞ্চগড় সদরের হাফিজাবাদ ইউনিয়নের পুকুরীডাঙা উচ্চ বিদ্যালয়ের শিক্ষক। নাম মোহাম্মদ বদরুজ্জামান। তিনি জানালেন, পঞ্চগড় শহর থেকে পাঁচ কিলোমিটার উত্তরে। জাতীয় সংসদের সাবেক স্পিকার, মন্ত্রী ও এমপি জমিরউদ্দিন সরকারের গ্রামের বাড়ির নিকটবর্তী ব্যারিস্টারের মোড়ের কাছাকাছি এলাকায় দেবনগরে একটি গড় ছিল, যা এখন পুরোপুরি বিলুপ্ত। এই দুর্গটির নাম ছিল হোসেনগড়। কামরূপ অভিযান চালানোর আগে বাংলার স্বাধীন সুলতান আলাউদ্দিন হোসেন শাহ (১৪৯৩-১৫১৯ খ্রি.) এটি নির্মাণ করেছিলেন। এর মাটির প্রাচীর ও পরিখা অনেক আগেই নিশ্চিহ্ন হয়েছে। ‘বাঙলাদেশের প্রত্ন সম্পদ’ গ্রন্থের ২০০৭ সংস্করণের ৫৩ পৃষ্ঠায় আবুল কালাম মোহাম্মদ যাকারিয়া উল্লেখ করেছেন, দুর্গটি ছিল বর্গাকার এবং এর প্রতিবাহুর দৈর্ঘ্য ছিল ১ দশমিক ৫ কিমি। মোহাম্মদ বদরুজ্জামান আরো একটি বিলুপ্ত গড় বা দুর্গের সন্ধান দিলেন। এটি ছিল পঞ্চগড় শহরের রাজনগর এলাকায়। পুরনো গরুহাটা এবং রাজনগর উচ্চ বিদ্যালয়ের পেছনে ছিল এর অবস্থান। এখন এখানে গোরস্তান হয়েছে। যদিও সেই দুর্গ এবং দুর্গপ্রাচীর পুরোপুরি বিলুপ্ত, তবুও তার স্মৃতিচিহ্ন হিসেবে মাঝে মাঝে চ্যাপ্টা ইট দেখা যায়। কথা বলতে বলতে এবং পুরনো তথ্য জোগাড় করতে করতে করতোয়া নদীর ধারে মিরগড় দুর্গ এলাকার কাছে গিয়ে দাঁড়ালাম। জায়গাটা পঞ্চগড় শহরের প্রায় ৩ কিলোমিটার দক্ষিণ-পশ্চিমে। করতোয়া নদী এখানটায় ভারত থেকে বাংলাদেশে ঢুকেছে। এগিয়ে গেলাম একেবারে সীমান্ত পিলারের পাশে। সীমান্ত নদীর ভেতর দিয়ে এগিয়েছে। তারপর খোলা মাঠের ভেতর দিয়ে একের পর এক বসানো হয়েছে সীমান্ত পিলার। খুব কাছেই মাঠের ওপরে ভারতীয় সার্চ লাইট, পর্যবেক্ষণ টাওয়ার ও কাঁটাতারের বেড়া। খুব কাছেই ভারতীয় এলাকার চা-বাগান। এপারে বাংলাদেশের আখক্ষেত। বাংলাদেশ ভ‚খণ্ডে কোনো চা-বাগান নেই। নদীর মাঝখানে পোঁতা লম্বা সীমানা খুঁটির দিকে নির্দেশ করে বদরুজ্জামান জানালেন, এখানটাতেই ছিল মিরগড়ের প্রাচীন দুর্গ ও দুর্গপ্রাচীর। কাদামাটিতে গাঁথা চ্যাপ্টা ইটে তৈরি বিশাল এ দুর্গপ্রাচীর বহুদূর থেকে দেখা যেত। অনেকদিন মানুষ এর ক্ষতি করেছে। তবে আসল ক্ষতিটা হয়েছে নদীর কারণে। করতোয়ার ভাঙন বাংলাদেশের ভূমি ক্রমাগতভাবে গ্রাস করছে। ভাঙন এলাকায় বাংলাদেশের ভেতরে ঢুকে যাওয়া এবং ওপারে চর পড়ে জমি বেড়ে যাওয়ায় মিরগড়ের দুর্গপ্রাচীর এখন নদীর গর্ভে রয়েছে। তবে দুর্গপ্রাচীরের অবস্থানটা কোথায় ছিল তা স্মৃতি থেকে কেউ কেউ বলতে পারেন। সেই স্মৃতির ভিত্তিতে এগিয়ে গেলাম যেখানটায়, সেখান থেকে শুরু হয়েছিল ভাঙন। জায়গাটা দুটো সীমান্ত পিলারের প্রায় মাঝামাঝি অবস্থানে। দুপাশের প্রতি পিলার থেকে এটি প্রায় ৪৫ মিটার করে দূরত্বে। পশ্চিমের পিলার থেকে প্রায় ৪৫ মিটার পূর্বে, আর পূর্বের পিলার থেকে প্রায় ৪৫ মিটার পশ্চিমে। একেবারে জিরো পয়েন্ট ঘেঁষে। এখানে একটা কথা, এ জায়গাটায় অবাধ যাতায়াত ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ। স্থানীয় লোকজনকে জিজ্ঞেস করে এ দুর্গ সম্পর্কে আরো কিছু তথ্য পেলাম। সেই সূত্রেই ধ্বংস হওয়া দুর্গপ্রাচীর প্রায় ৪ মিটার উঁচু ছিল বলে জানলাম। তবে যেখানটায় দাঁড়ালাম, সেখানে এখনো উঁচু ঢিবি রয়েছে। অবশ্য তা সৃষ্টি হয়েছে মানুষের দ্বারা, মাটি খুঁড়ে পাথর উঠিয়ে নেয়ার ফলে। কিন্তু ওখানেও দূর অতীতে মিরগড় দুর্গপ্রাচীরের শেষ অংশ বিদ্যমান ছিল। আবুল কালাম মোহাম্মদ যাকারিয়া প্রদত্ত ১৯৬৮ খ্রিস্টাব্দের অবস্থার বর্ণনা অনুযায়ী দুর্গপ্রাচীরটি ছিল ৩ মিটার উঁচু এবং ওপরের দিকেও তিন মিটার চওড়া। প্রায় ২০০ মিটার দীর্ঘ মাটির প্রাচীর তিনি দেখেছিলেন এবং জনশ্রুতি অনুযায়ী দুর্গটি অনেক বড় ছিল (বাঙলাদেশের প্রতœসম্পদ, ২০০৭, পৃ. ৫৪)। ১৭৭৯ খ্রিস্টাব্দের ১৫ আগস্ট তারিখে প্রকাশিত জে. রেনেলের মানচিত্রে দুটি মিরগড়ের সুস্পষ্ট উল্লেখ থাকায় বোঝা যায়, একই নামের দুটি আলাদা দুর্গ ছিল, যার একটিও টিকে নেই। তেমন কোনো প্রত্নবস্তু এখন আর এখানে মেলে না। কালেভদ্রে প্রাচীনকালের দুয়েকটা চ্যাপ্টা ইট স্মরণ করিয়ে দেয় যে, ‘একদা আমিও ছিলাম’। ফেরার পথে সে কথাই মনে পড়তে লাগল।
তালমা তীরের দুর্গনগরী
খন্দকার মাহমুদুল হাসান সাপ্তাহিক ২০০০ পঞ্চগড় শহর ছাড়িয়ে পা রাখলাম উত্তরের পথে। গন্তব্য ভিতরগড়। দুপাশে সবুজের সমারোহ। সরু রাস্তা। গাড়িঘোড়ার চলাচল কম। জনকোলাহল তো নেই বললেই চলে। উত্তর-পূর্ব দিকে প্রায় ১৬ কিলোমিটার নির্জন পথ অতিক্রম করে ঢুকে গেলাম ভিতরগড়ের সীমানায়। ডানে ঘুমিয়ে আছে ভিতরগড়ের দুর্গনগরী, আর বাঁয়ে বয়ে চলেছে শান্ত নদী তালমা। তবে গিয়েই বুঝলাম, এই বিশাল প্রত্নস্থলের সংরক্ষণ ব্যবস্থা কত নাজুক। গ্রামের পর গ্রাম গড়ে উঠেছে। চাষাবাদ দালানবাড়ি নির্মাণ, কূপ খনন প্রভৃতি চলছে ইচ্ছেমতো। মকর্দম ডাঙা, মাঘই মাছপুকুরি, মডেলহাট প্রভৃতি এলাকা ঘুরে নিজ চোখেই দেখলাম এসব। তবে আশার কথা, সবকিছুই নিশ্চিহ্ন হয়ে যায়নি। প্রায় মজে যাওয়া এবং জলে টলমল দীর্ঘ পরিখা, একের পর এক দুর্গপ্রাচীর এবং কয়েকটি প্রত্ন-ঢিবি টিকে আছে এখনো। ভিতরগড় এদেশের সবচেয়ে বড় দুর্গনগরী। প্রাচীন মহানগরীগুলোর মধ্যেও আয়তনের দিক দিয়ে এটিই সব চেয়ে বড়। অনুমান করা হয়, এখানে খ্রিস্টীয় সপ্তম শতকের দিকে একটি বড় বাণিজ্যকেন্দ্র গড়ে উঠেছিল। দুর্গনগরীটির অবস্থান ভারতের সীমান্ত ঘেঁষে অমরখানা ইউনিয়নে। প্রত্নতত্ত অধিদপ্তরের প্রতিবেদন (১৯৯৫, পৃ. ১১০) অনুযায়ী এখানে প্রাপ্ত পাথরের মূর্তির মধ্যে আছে ব্ল্যাক ব্যাসল্টে তৈরি মনসা, হনুমান, রামচন্দ্র প্রভৃতি মূর্তি। প্রত্যক্ষদর্শী আবুল কালাম মোহাম্মদ যাকারিয়ার কাছ থেকে ২০১১ খ্রিস্টাব্দের ২২ সেপ্টেম্বর তারিখে জানা গেছে যে, ১৯৮৮ খ্রিস্টাব্দে ভিতরগড় দিঘির দক্ষিণঘাটে একটি ভাঙা মূর্তি পড়ে ছিল, যা কাপড় ধোয়ার কাজে ব্যবহার হতো। তিনি এই মূর্তিটিকে খ্রিস্টীয় একাদশ-দ্বাদশ শতকের বলে অনুমান করেছেন। তবে সেই মূর্তি বা অন্য কোনো পাথরের সামগ্রী দেখার অনেক চেষ্টা করেও সফল হইনি। অবশ্য এখান থেকে মূর্তি ও পাথরের সামগ্রী পাওয়ার কথা স্থানীয়দের অনেকেই জানালেন। তবে সঙ্গে সঙ্গে তারা এও জানালেন যে, সেসবের কিছুই এখন আর দেখা যায় না। ‘কোচবিহারের ইতিহাস’ শীর্ষক গ্রন্থে (পৃ. ১০) খান চৌধুরী আমানত উল্লাহ আহমদ জনশ্রæতির ভিত্তিতে উল্লেখ করেছেন যে, খ্রিস্টীয় প্রথম বা দ্বিতীয় শতকে কামরূপের শূদ্রবংশীয় রাজা দেবেশ্বরের বংশজাত রাজা পৃথুর রাজধানী ছিল জলপাইগুড়ির দক্ষিণের ‘ভিতরগড়’-এ। এই বর্ণনার উল্লেখসহ আবুল কালাম মোহাম্মদ যাকারিয়া উল্লেখ করেন (বাঙলাদেশের প্রত্নসম্পদ, ২০০৭, পৃ. ৫১), জনশ্রুতি অনুযায়ী ‘প্রায় খ্রিস্টীয় চতুর্থ শতাব্দীতে পৃথু নামক এক নৃপতি এই দুর্গনগরী নির্মাণ ও এ দিঘি খনন করেছিলেন। এই জনশ্রুতি মতে, সেই নৃপতি অতিশয় নীচু জাতীয় কোনো অসভ্য শত্রুদ্বারা পরাজিত হয়েছিলেন এবং নিজের সম্মান রক্ষার জন্য রাজা তার পরিবারের সমুদয় সদস্য ও সমগ্র ধনসম্পত্তি নিয়ে দিঘির জলে আত্মহত্যা করেছিলেন।’ ২০০৯ খ্রিস্টাব্দের জানুয়ারি থেকে ড. শাহনাজ হুসনে জাহানের নেতৃত্বে এখানে খননকাজ চলার পর মৃৎপাত্রসহ কিছু প্রত্নসামগ্রী এবং প্রাচীন মন্দিরের ধ্বংসাবশেষ পাওয়া গেছে। এখানকার প্রত্নস্থাপনাকে প্রায় দেড় হাজার বছর আগেকার বলে তখন থেকে অনুমান করা হচ্ছে (ভিতরগড়ের ভেতরের কথা, মোঃ সাইফুল্লাহ, ছুটির দিনে, প্রথম আলো, ২৫ জুন, ২০১১, পৃ. ৭) রাজবাড়ি ঢিবি ও কাচারি ঢিবি ঘুরে দেখার সময় রাজবাড়ি ঢিবি ও নিকটবর্তী কবরস্থানের নিচে খননকাজের স্থান দেখার সুযোগ হলো। এখানে কাদার গাঁথুনি দেয়া ইটের তৈরি পুরু প্রাচীর ১৬টি স্তম্ভ, বৌদ্ধ ধর্মীয় স্মৃতিসৌধ, মন্দির প্রভৃতি পাওয়ার সংবাদ পত্রিকায় পড়েছিলাম। একই সূত্রে এখানকার স্থাপনাকে খ্রিস্টীয় ষষ্ঠ-সপ্তম শতকের বলে উল্লেখ করা হয়েছিল (দুর্গনগরী রাজাবাড়ি, দৈনিক মানবজমিন, ২৯ সেপ্টেম্বর, ২০১০)। এই দুর্গনগরীর দৈর্ঘ্য ছিল উত্তর-দক্ষিণে প্রায় ৬ দশমিক ৪ কিলোমিটার ও পূর্ব-পশ্চিমে প্রায় ৪ দশমিক ৮ কিলোমিটার। (আলোকচিত্রে ইতিহাস বৃহত্তর রংপুর ও দিনাজপুর, এরিয়া সদর দপ্তর, রংপুর, বাংলাদেশ সেনাবাহিনী, ২০০৮, পৃ. ১৩৬ এবং বাঙলাদেশের প্রতœসম্পদ, আবুল কালাম মোহাম্মদ যাকারিয়া, ২০০৭, পৃ. ৪৬)। বোঝাই যায়, এটি বর্গাকার নয়। তবে এটি এমন আয়তাকার নয়, যার বিপরীত বাহুগুলো সমান। বরং এটি ট্রাপিজিয়ম আকৃতির। এর কোনো দুটো বাহুই হুবাহু সমান নয়। এটিকে জটিল নকশার একটি বিচিত্র দুর্গ বলা যায়। আবার বলা যায়, এখানে পাশাপাশি তিনটি দুর্গের সহাবস্থান ছিল। এ কারণেই ডক্টর ফ্রান্সিস বুকানন ১৮০৭ খ্রিস্টাব্দে এই দুর্গের যে নকশা করেছিলেন তাতে তিন স্তরের দুর্গ প্রাচীরের ভিত্তিতে একেবারে কেন্দ্রীয় অঞ্চলকে ‘ইনার সিটি’ এবং এই ‘ইনার সিটি’কে ঘিরে রাখা দেয়ালের বাইরের অংশের নাম দিয়েছিলেন ‘মিডল সিটি’। মিডিল সিটিকে ঘিরে রাখা প্রাচীরের বাইরের অংশকে তিনি ‘আউটার সিটি’ হিসেবে উল্লেখ করেছিলেন। ওই আউটার সিটিকেও ঘিরে রেখেছিল দুর্গ প্রাচীর। ইনার সিটি বা কেন্দ্রীয় দুর্গের লাগোয়া পূর্বদিকে উত্তর দক্ষিণে লম্বা একটি বিশাল দিঘি আছে। দিঘিটির দৈর্ঘ্য ৫৯০ দশমিক ৯০ মিটার ও প্রস্থ ৩৬ দশমিক ৬৩ মিটার। বুকাননের মানচিত্রে দেখা যায়, দুর্গ প্রাচীর ভেদ করে উত্তর দিক দিয়ে দুর্গনগরীর ভেতরে ঢুকে গেছে তালমা নদী। আউটার সিটির দুর্গপ্রাচীর ভেদ করে তা মিডল সিটিতে ঢুকে এর দুর্গপ্রাচীরকে স্পর্শ করেছে। এরপর বেঁকে পশ্চিমে গিয়ে দুর্গপ্রাচীরের প্রায় সমান্তরালে তা দক্ষিণে প্রবাহিত হয়েছে। ম্যাপ : মন্টোগোমারি মার্টিন-এর ‘ইস্টার্ন ইন্ডিয়ার পঞ্চম খণ্ডের (১৯৭৬ সংস্করণ), ৪৪৩ পৃষ্ঠার ম্যাপ অবলম্বনে ১৮৩৮ খ্রিস্টাব্দে প্রকাশিত মন্টোগোমারি মার্টিনের The History Antiquities Topography and Statistics of Eastern India গ্রন্থের পঞ্চম খণ্ডের (Rangpur and Assam, Indian Edition 1976) ৪৪৪-৪৪৬ পৃষ্ঠায় এই বিবরণের উল্লেখ আছে। তিনি ইনার সিটিতে পৃথু রাজার আবাসস্থল, বড় দিঘি ও এই সিটির প্রায় মাঝামাঝি জায়গায় ছোট জলাশয় থাকার কথা উল্লেখ করেছেন। তার বিবরণের খানিকটা অংশের অনুবাদ এ রকম, ‘…নগরীটি করতোয়ার কিছুটা পূর্বে অবস্থিত এবং তালমা নামের একটি ছোট নদী এটির ভেতর দিয়ে উত্তর থেকে দক্ষিণে প্রবাহিত হয়েছে। …নগরীটি চারটি এককেন্দ্রিক বেষ্টনীতে ঘেরা। সবচেয়ে ভেতরে রাজবাড়ি ছিল বলে কথিত এবং সার্বিক অবস্থা এই অনুমানের সত্যতা প্রতিপন্ন করে। এটি একটি সামন্তরিক যা উত্তর-দক্ষিণে ৬৯০ গজ এবং এর অর্ধেক পূর্ব-পশ্চিমে। …এই এলাকার মধ্যভাগে একটি ছোট পুকুর আছে, যার প্রতি পাড়ে আছে ইটের স্তূপ। দক্ষিণ-পূর্ব কোনায় অন্য একটি জলাশয় ও স্তূপ আছে। এই স্তূপগুলো সম্ভবত ব্যক্তিগত উপাসনার স্থান ছিল। …প্রাসাদের নিকটবর্তী দিঘিটি একটি উল্লেখযোগ্য কর্ম এবং এর পাড়ের উচ্চতা ও প্রশস্ততা দেখে বোঝা যায়, এটি অবশ্যই গভীর। উত্তর-দক্ষিণে এটি ৮০০ গজ লম্বা ও পূর্ব-পশ্চিমে ৭০০ গজ। এটির উত্তর ও দক্ষিণ দিকে দুটি এবং পূর্ব ও পশ্চিম দিকে ইটে বাঁধানো তিনটি ঘাট ছিল। …প্রাসাদ ও বিশাল দিঘিকে ঘিরে রাখা ইনার সিটি পূর্ব-পশ্চিমে প্রায় ১৯৩০ গজ ও উত্তর-দক্ষিণে ৩৪৫ গজ দীর্ঘ। উত্তর-পূর্ব ও পশ্চিম দিকে যাওয়ার সময় আনুষঙ্গিক প্রতিরক্ষা ব্যবস্থা ছাড়া ইটের তৈরি দুর্গপ্রাচীর ও একটি সংকীর্ণ পরিখা দেখেছিলাম। …মিডল সিটিটি পূর্ব-পশ্চিমে ৩৫৩০ গজ ও উত্তর-দক্ষিণে ৬৩৫০ গজ দীর্ঘ এবং একটি পরিখা ও মাটির দুর্গপ্রাচীরে ঘেরা। কিন্তু উত্তর দিকে যেখানে তালমা পরিখাতে ঢুকেছে এবং এর সঙ্গে একত্রে প্রবাহিত হয়েছে, সে স্থানটিকে মজবুত করার জন্য আরো একটি বাড়তি দেয়াল বানানো হয়েছিল। এটির পশ্চিম এলাকাটি ছিল পূর্বের চেয়ে বেশি চওড়া এবং দক্ষিণ ভাগটা উত্তরের মতো ততটা চওড়া নয়। এর দক্ষিণ প্রান্তের কাছে বাঘপুখোরি নামে একটি জলাশয় আছে, যেখানে রাজা কিছু বাঘ রাখতেন। উত্তর দিকে ইটের দুটো ছোট স্তূপ আছে, যেগুলোকে রাজার মন্ত্রীদের বাড়ি বলে অভিহিত করা হয় এবং এগুলোর আকৃতি দেখে এগুলোকে এ ধরনের মানুষের ব্যক্তিগত উপাসনার স্থান বলে মনে হয়। …আউটার সিটি একটি নিচু দেয়াল ও পরিখায় ঘেরা ছিল এবং সেখানে নীচু শ্রেণীর মানুষের বসবাস ছিল, যে কারণে
Aid pipeline bulges to $16.32b last fiscal
The aid pipeline for Bangladesh that represents committed but undisbursed foreign loans has continued to bulge. The unutilised foreign aid swelled to US$16.32 billion until the close of last fiscal year. The government agencies have failed to use the committed external resources because of their inefficiency, officials said Saturday. Economic Relations Division (ERD) data shows the foreign assistance in the pipeline increased by $3.94 billion in the last fiscal (2011-12), showing a 28.42 per cent rise over that of $13.86 billion of the previous fiscal (2010-11). “The foreign aid in the pipeline is ballooning every year as the implementation agencies are failing to execute in time the donor-assisted projects in time,” said a top ERD official. Development analysts said inefficiency of the government and lack of transparency in project implementation are affecting the aid disbursement, inflating the aid pipeline. The project aid is the major part of the total foreign assistance to Bangladesh. The aid disbursement against commitment by the donors depends on implementation of the projects in time. ERD statistics showed that the government ministries and agencies could utilise only $2.03 billion worth of foreign aid from the available $4.497 billion in external assistance which was committed by the multilateral and bilateral donors during the just concluded fiscal year. Among the donor agencies, the World Bank (WB) had the highest amount of undisbursed but committed fund, showed the ERD statistics. Thus, the share of International Development Association (IDA), the soft loan window of the Washington-based global lender from which Bangladesh receives the WB aid, rose to nearly $4.30 billion until the last fiscal. The Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) had about $3.10 billion aid in the pipeline — the second highest amount of unutilised but committed aid fund for Bangladesh. The bilateral donor, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) had its share in undisbursed amount of external assistance at $2.4 billion. “Due to the inefficiencies of the government agencies and alleged corruption in the process of execution of projects, the pace of project implementation is slowed down,” development researcher Zaid Bakht said. He said the separate procurement guidelines of the donors and the government are one of the major reasons behind delays in project utilization, resulting in stuck-up position of foreign aid in the pipeline. The ERD that is responsible for seeking, and ling up of, external aid, is highly critical of the project implementers, stating that slow implementation of project results in slow disbursement of aid which leads to cost overturn and impacts adversely the efforts for mobilising fresh external assistance. Poor aid disbursement has also its unfavourable impact on the country’s balance of payments (BoPs) and leads to increased borrowing by the government from domestic sources, the ERD said in its analysis. The ERD said: “Projects are often designed without proper planning of feasibility studies. Also people engaged in the project preparation are not properly trained.” In a recent meeting of the Local Consultative Group (LCG) in Dhaka, the ERD urged the donors to work out ways for forming a uniform procurement guideline for Bangladesh to avoid the complexities in execution of the donor-funded schemes. A senior Planning Commission official said bottlenecks in procurement, contradictory procurement guidelines of the government and the donors and complex approval procedures by the donors before fund disbursement, are the major reasons for the bulging external aid pipeline. “If the procurement complexities could be overcome, most of the projects would have been implemented in time and the committed foreign aid could witness a faster pace of disbursement,” the official told the FE. The ERD officials said lengthy process for preparation of Development Project Proposal (DPP), its approval, slow procurement and implementations at a snail’s pace eat up much time, all of which swell the amount of unutilsied assistance in the pipeline. There is no alternative to reinforcing the bilateral ties between the government and the donors for ensuring quick disbursement of foreign aid, the officials added. FHM Humayan Kabir5.08.2012 Reference Download : Aid pipeline bulges
Bangladesh’s resource base
Mahabub Hossain, an eminent economist of the country, provides a succinct summary of the resource base of the country which can, at times, be paraphrased and presented before the readers. Land, the most important natural resource for production, is extremely scarce in Bangladesh and is very intensively used. The total land area of the country is estimated at 14.7 million hectares of which nearly 60 per cent is arable. The cultivable land was almost exhausted in the 1960s. Under pressure of population, there was some expansion of cultivated land in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly through deforestation and expansion of habitation in chars and reclaimed lands in remote islands. But in the 1970s a kind of equilibrium had been reached in the pattern of land use which has changed little since then. Since 1980s Bangladesh has been facing increasing incidence of landlessness and shrinking of cultivable land. The excessive pressure of the growing population over the limited land resources has exacerbated the situation. According to the Agricultural Census taken in 1996, the number of rural households enumerated was 17.8 million; 10 per cent of them did not own any land at all, and roughly 60 per cent owned less than 0.2 hectares. This group is called “functionally landless”, as the meager amount of land they own cannot be a significant source of livelihood. A nationally representative sample survey conducted in 2008 estimated the number of households which do not own any land at four per cent, households without any cultivated land at 29 per cent, and households with less than 0.2 hectares at 59 per cent. In addition to population pressure, the attack on the limited land base has come in the from of acquisition of land for the government development projects – often more than needed – demand for land for housing and industrial and commercial establishments, and erosion of river banks. The 1996 Agricultural Census reported that the land area operated by households declined from 9.2 million ha in 1983-84 to 8.2 million hectares in 1996. It means that Bangladesh had been losing about 83,000 hectares of cultivable land every year (one per cent of cultivable land) on account of increased urban areas, habitation and development of infrastructure. The recently concluded Agricultural Census taken in 2008 at 8.18 million hectares, which indicated that erosion of cultivable land has either been halted and/or additional cultivable land has been reclaimed from silted water bodies and new land accredited in the coastal belt. Bangladesh has abundant water resources which attracted people to migrate to this region centuries ago and turned it into the most densely settled region in the world. The availability of surface water has however declined due to withdrawal of water from the rivers in upstream in India through barrages and dams from increased navigation of tributaries in India and to support agricultural growth. This has become a major issue of dispute and a stumbling-block in the way of improving relationship with India. Heavy rainfall and a suitable geological structure provide abundant supply of ground water which is available at a depth of about 12 meters in most regions, and at less than six meters in many parts of the country. But withdrawal of the ground water for irrigation beyond the capacity of recharge has gradually depleted this resource and has reached an alarming level for environmental concern of desertification and negative effect on the supply of safe drinking water. Land is not of uniform quality and elevation. The overall picture of gently sloping alluvial plain disguises considerable variation of local relief which affects cropping patterns, the intensity of land use and crop yields. Complex local differences in elevation have important implications for the planning of drainage and irrigation as they are associated with differences in soil permeability and crop suitability. The National Water Plan prepared in the 1980s classifies land into four major types according to flood depth. The high land areas which are flooded upto a maximum of 30 cm during the peak of the monsoon season constitute about 30 per cent of the total land. With the development of irrigation facilities, two rice crops of high yielding varieties can be grown in such land and in between rice a shorter maturity on non-rice crops can be grown. The medium-high land, flooded between 30 to 90 cm during peak monsoon months, constitute another third of total land. About one-sixth of the total land is flooded in the range of 90 to 180 cm, which is suitable for one crop of low-yielding deep water monsoon rice (aman). The remaining one-sixth of the area consists of extremely low land that does not permit growing of any crop during the monsoon season. This area is suitable for growing one rice crop (boro) during the dry winter season. The land types bying depth have however been changing due to filling up of beds of rivers, creeks and canals through siltation and bringing such land into cultivation. Changes may also have occurred from blockage of drainage through construction of roads, and protection of land from flooding through construction of flood protection embankments along river banks. The changes in land type by flooding depth as reported by Agricultural Censuses conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics can be noted. Both the high land and low land areas have declined and medium land areas have increased from 44 per cent of the net cropped area in 1983-84 to 58 per cent in 2008. The change in land type has favourable impact on the intensity of land use. The single cropped area has declined from 32 to 25 per cent while the triple cropped area has increased from 11 to 15 per cent since the early 1980s.. Agricultural activities centring around crop cultivation which accounts for about 56 per cent of agricultural value addition, has declined from two-thirds in the 1970s. Another 14 per cent of the value addition originates in livestock and poultry farming, which are activities supplementary to crop husbandry, carried out
On inclusive growth
Posted September 19th, 2012 by Admin | Inclusive growth has become one of the most important areas of thoughts in recent times. The reasons are not far to seek. Growth could be greasing for some but gruesome for others in the absence of participation in economic activities. There are ample evidences where high economic growth failed to reduce poverty and ensure equality. Dr Rizwanul Islam, a former adviser of ILO, succinctly summarises the issue in the context of Bangladesh. To feed our readers with findings, we can reproduce his versions. Admittedly, there is no universally accepted or suggested definition. The World Bank’s definition represents a roll back to a growth-centred paradigm. Although they talk about the importance of the pattern of growth and mention the importance of productive employment, they categorically reject the idea of special focus on labour-intensive industries. Likewise, income inequality is also not considered in their definition. The Asian Development Bank also suggests a growth-centred approach, but includes productive employment and social safety nets in their definition. Some of their own officials consider equity as an element in their definition of the term. It is thus clear that while ADB’s approach is at odds with that of the World Bank, there are differences in approach within the ADB itself. UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) focuses on both process and outcome of growth and emphasises on equity in their concept of inclusive growth. Therefore, it is suggested that the following elements be considered as important in defining inclusive growth: (i) stable and sustainable economic growth, (ii) reduction of poverty and inequality, (iii) improvement in the access to education and health, (iv) productive employment and employment-intensive economic growth, and (v) basic social protection floor for all citizens. For employment, the importance of the pattern of growth and a shift in the structure of the economy and labour market is emphasised. One may wish to examine the status of Bangladesh with regard to these pillars as far as the performance of the economy of the country is concerned. While benchmarks set by the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) are used for this purpose, the analysis goes beyond such benchmarks. The basic conclusion that emerges from the data and analysis presented by Dr Rizwan is that while there has been noticeable acceleration in economic growth in the country and significant reduction in poverty has been achieved, if other dimensions of inclusive growth, e.g., equity, productive employment, and a basic social protection floor for all citizens, are taken into account, the performance appears to fall short of a truly inclusive growth. Even in terms of per capita income, Bangladesh has not been able to narrow the gap with other countries of South Asia like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The economy of Bangladesh has the potential to achieve higher growth than has been achieved in the recent past; and effort needs to be made to attain and sustain such growth. That, in turn, would require serious efforts at removing the constraints on investment, domestic as well as foreign. Mobilisation of domestic resources (especially, raising revenue/GDP ratio) should be a priority. However, single-minded pursuit of a growth agenda would not be sufficient from the point of view of achieving the ultimate goal of development, viz., reduction (and eventual elimination) of poverty and achievement of other Millennium Development Goals through a wider sharing of the benefits of growth. Higher rate of growth of productive employment, a faster transfer of workers to sectors/activities with higher levels of productivity, reversal of the trend of rising income inequality, and greater attention to social aspects of development would have to be important elements in an agenda for inclusive growth. By and large, the performance of Bangladesh economy in terms of economic growth should be pitted against inclusiveness of growth. While we claim to find a space of comfort in transcending to a higher growth trajectory, the concerns loom large on the horizon as the growth has not been an inclusive growth. Bangladesh will have to strive very hard to achieve the goal of inclusive growth. The budgetary allocation to social safety nets programmes need to be raised, corruption needs to be curbed drastically in all spheres of transaction and a regime of good governance with the rule of law in operation should prevail. Abdul Bayes is Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University. abdulbayes@yahoo.com Reference Download : On inclusive growth
