Technology-induced hegemony is forcing most of the rural youth workforce to migrate to cities, leading to the rise in the number of old, children and infirm population in the village in future, Dr Shapan Adnan, professorial research associate at the University of London, said at a seminar on Wednesday.
Industrialisation is hardly happening in the rural areas compared to urban or suburban areas, said Dr Adnan, while speaking at the seminar, titled 'Agrarian Transition or Rural Transformation? Factors and Trends of Change in Village Bangladesh', organised by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) at its conference room in the city.
Dr Shapan Adnan conducted the seminar based on his research, while BIDS Director General Dr Binayak Sen chaired the event.
Dr Adnan pointed out some elements that worked as key factors in the rural socio-economic transition and transformation in the last eight decades - from the Great Bengal Famine in 1943 (Bangla Chollisher Akal) to the birth of two states from British rule to the independence of Bangladesh to present days.
"A critical influence on rural society and cultural norms has been increasing exposure to urban living conditions and lifestyles. Apart from the major cities and towns of the country, nodes of urban growth have emerged in the very heart of rural areas, as large market-places or bazaars, as well as upazila headquarters have experienced construction booms and been connected to urban utilities," he said.
At the same time, he said, migratory processes have led to the exposure of village dwellers to urban centres of the country as well as sites of employment abroad.
The rural dwellers have been exposed to urban lifestyles and consumerism through the mediation of modern technology, particularly television, videos, mobile phones and internet channels.
"As rural dwellers have been exposed to urban cultural norms, significant numbers, particularly in the younger age groups, have sought to move to the towns in order to enjoy urban lifestyles," he said.
"Consequently, there is a trend among younger people, who have the means to do so, to leave the village. In the long term, these processes may lead to shifts in the demographic structure such that the old, the very young and the infirm remain in the villages, while working age groups move to cities and townships," he said.
Talking on shifting authority from village 'shalish or samaj' system to upazila headquarters, Dr Adnan said: "Indeed clientelist relationships are integral to the operation of discriminatory patronage that rewards the dishonest while unduly penalising ordinary borrowers".
He said case study evidence from village studies shows the principles governing corruption and the mechanisms of impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators.
Referring to the example of taking bribes for loans issued by rural branches of banks, Dr Adnan said it is evident that it is a collective exercise involving the management and officials as well as local brokers linked to the village power structure.
"It is possible to conjecture that corrupt practices are subsumed by the processes of primitive and capitalist accumulation, which constitute the underlying driving forces," he added.
Speaking on the occasion, former member of the Planning Commission economist Dr Sattar Mandal said, "Agricultural machinery is playing a major role in the rural economy nowadays. Agricultural mechanisation has created non-agricultural employment in various fields."
BIDS Professorial Fellow Dr M Asaduzzaman said, "In the 1990s, the income of those who were involved in non-farm work was almost close to the income directly associated with farm economy."
In that case those who were linked to non-farm income had less land holdings, he said.
"But now it is seen that those who have more land own more agricultural machinery. It shows a widespread economic inequality prevailing in villages," he pointed out.
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