Distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and convener of Citizen's Platform for SDGs Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya on Wednesday said that Bangladesh has witnessed increasing disparity in wealth and consumption over the last 15 years.
He was speaking at a media briefing on “Citizen Agenda for Inclusive Development and Equity: Education, Health, Climate Change and Social Security” at the Brac centre in Dhaka’s Mohakhali area.
Backward people could not be pioneers in terms of education, health and consumption, said Debapriya.
He said that inequality not only in wealth or money but also in consumption and getting state benefits has widened.
Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), presided over the function.
The media briefing was conducted by Professor Dr Mustafizur Rahman.
Three separate presentations on education, health, and climate-focused topics were released at the event.
Debapriya said: “I was not motivated to give advice because of the pre-election situation in 2014 and 2018. But this time, on the eve of the national election, we have tried to evaluate the development experience of the last decade and a half.”
It is necessary to understand how true and strong the narrative of national development the people always are hearing about, he said.
“Understanding that, I had discussions with about 500 people of endangered and backward communities in seven places in Bangladesh,” he added.
In response to a question, the economist said that Bangladesh’s middle class has become weak and has decayed.
The decline of middle class society has economic, political, and cultural ramifications, he said.
The middle class played a major role in upholding the cultural values and political values of Bangladesh, the Citizen's Platform for SDGs convener added.
“But in recent times that role has become murky. Because of this, we have fallen behind,” he further said.
