As such, the fact that the World Bank wants to provide funds for infrastructure development in rural areas is certainly a welcome prospect.
Bangladesh has been going through a rapid change recently, but this can only be seen in urban areas. If we want to get really specific, aside from cities like Dhaka and Chittagong, even other urban and semi-urban areas are not getting the treatment they deserve.
While it is good that the administration is focusing on the capital and the port city first as we do have restrictions when it comes to resources, this one-sided approach to development is not the way to go about it. A large portion of the population live in rural communities, and they pay their taxes just like the rest of us.
Which is why it is so unfair that those living in large cities get to enjoy the fruits of taxation while the people living in rural areas are left behind. The government has also talked much about the need for decentralization in the past, but if we continue on this path of one-sided development, we will be further away from our goal, and the capital and in turn the country will suffer.
Development needs to be for all people, not just for some of us.
This unchecked focus on urban areas is also meaning that we are losing the natural beauty and damaging the environment of the country. The government should take on a planned development roadmap that encompasses the whole of Bangladesh while paving the way for us to reach our goals and save our environment. And when it comes to planning, now is always the best time.
