Speakers at a convention demanded on Saturday formation of 'National Char Commission' to develop the livelihoods of the char people saying that they are the most marginalised community.
They also demanded increasing budgetary allocation for the char people to eradicate poverty from such areas.
The demands were placed at the First National Char Convention 2015 held at the Krishibid Institution in the city organised by the National Convention Observation Committee.
The convention observation committee was formed with representations from 80 national and international NGOs, other civil society organisations, former government officials, economists, social scientists and char people, among others.
Speaking as the chief guest at the convention Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Choudhury said the char people lead a life of hardship and the government is aware of it.
She expressed hope that the government could be able to remove poverty not only from the char lands but also from the whole country within 2018.
The Speaker said the char people are still lagging behind in comparison with the mainstream population.
According to the Constitution, the government has to take initiatives to improve livelihoods of the char inhabitants.
Former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank and economist Dr Khondokar Ibrahim Khaled said every year the char land is increasing.
He said nearly 10 per cent of total land is now under char areas where 6.0 million to 10 million people live.
He demanded formation of 'National Char Commission' with representations from both the ministries concerned and NGOs to pave the way to develop the livelihoods of char inhabitants.
In his speech Concern Worldwide Country Director AKM Musa said the government will have to take initiative to form a national council which would search ways toward development of the char people.
The char areas are always deprived of government budgetary allocation, he said.
Char people should get special allocation in the national budget considering their extreme poor condition, he added.
According to the char convention observation committee, the char lands are geographically situated in the 100 upazilas under 32 districts.
General Secretary of All-Party Parliamentary Groups Shisir Shil, member secretary of the convention committee Md Anowar Hossain, counsellor to the Head of Development Cooperation under the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ms Priya Powell, among others, also spoke.
The committee placed its 39-point demands that include ensuring land ownership, primary education for their children, safe water and sanitation, medicare, modern agro input and equipment, special budget allocation, adaptation programmes to climate change for char people.
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