One in every four people is living below the poverty line which was three in every four after the 1971 War of Liberation, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan said yesterday.
He also said the government is working to eradicate poverty from the country by the end of this decade.
The minister was addressing a seminar styled “From extreme poverty to human dignity” in the capital, which was arranged by NETZ Bangladesh to share the outcomes of a project involving poverty reduction. The project was supported by the European Union and was carried out in India alongside Bangladesh.
“Anyone from outside the country can work here for our development but there are rules that have to be followed,” Mannan said.
A study of the project conducted by agricultural economist Jahangir Alam illustrated that the ultra-poor families and indigenous communities living in remote areas were the main beneficiaries of the project.
Rezina Murmu, who came from Dinajpur to share her story, said the women benefitting from the project lived like slaves a few years back.
“Once we were included in the project, it impacted our lives to a great degree. Women in our locality can now support their families and send children to school, something they never dreamt of,” she said.
“Many men in our locality are drug addicts who have unhealthy relationship with their wives. Many of the wives are members of the project. Last month we teamed up to vandalise the place where the men take liquor,” said Rezina, who is also an indigenous leader in her area.
All the beneficiaries of the project are now self-reliant in their families, said Doly Chisim who came from Mymensingh, adding that they live with dignity.
Sociologist Khondoker Shakhawat Ali told the seminar that reducing poverty is still a very challenging task.
“The post-2015 development agenda is a big challenge and NGOs need to strengthen the relationship between the micro and macro levels. The success stories related to the project we heard today is at the micro level but the picture of the whole country shows as many as 26 million people are still living under the extreme poverty threshold,” he said.
Dr Koushik Brahmachari, associate professor of Bidhan Chandra Agricultural University in India, said: “The project should cover more and more areas.”
Speakers at the seminar also prioritised action in coastal and border areas. They said working with the indigenous people was needed to reduce the poverty level to zero.
