Landlessness

Number of landless people in rural Bangladesh has declined to 2.32 million from 3.26 million in a decade, shows the latest Agriculture Census by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Experts have attributed this progress to impact of remittances on the rural economy as well as migration of people to the urban areas and urbanisation process.

However, the absolute number of landless people in the country is still high at 4.0 million, 1.7 million of whom are living in urban areas. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world and land size is also small here. Ownership of land is a fundamental right and landlessness is a major concern. 'Landless people' means the poor and destitute. Addressing this issue requires strong policy that can ensure better use of land and also redistribution of land.

Md. Zillur Rahaman

Gandaria, Dhaka