Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar: A dream project
Saturday, 21 April 2012
Samar Paul
Rural Development and Cooperative Division under the Ministry of LGRD&C launched a unique project titled 'Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar (One House One Farm)' with a target of changing the lot of rural people positively.
Estimated cost of the 5 year (2009 - 2014) Project was initially determined to be Tk 11.97 billion, where the revised 4 year (2009 - 2013) revised one stood at Tk. 14.93 billion. Meanwhile, the implementation phase started with ardent warmth by the Government machinery. The project would be implemented in all 483 Upazilas of the country.
The huge project would be executed solely by the government-owned agencies like Rural Development and Cooperative Division and its co-organisations, namely- BRDB, BARD, Comilla, RDA, Bogra, Department of Cooperatives, PDBF, SFDF in association with District and Upazila administration in particular. Total cost of the project would be borne by the government fund alone. It is expected that the project, outstanding in itself would be able to reduce national poverty up to 20 per cent from existing 40 per cent by the year 2015 making each household a sustainable income generating unit through maximum and justified utilisation and exploitation of human and other suitable economic resources.
The very objective of Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar is to make self-reliant families in rural Bangladesh where the people would empower themselves through requisite motivation, proper training, adequate and need-based micro-credit, material support, group building, voluntary enthusiasm and capital formation.
The project involves some high-level committees and people of high esteem to look after in various stages through regular and keen supervision, monitoring, discussion, interactions, problem shooting and ensuring transparency and accountability. Real, meaningful and pragmatic utilisation of efficient manpower and expertise of our nation-building sectors could be one of the major potential of the project. But still it is not out of belief that we have in past experienced many fruitful and ideal projects and programmes to fall flat due to apathy, cantankerous situations, and lack of compassion, sacrificial tendency, fellow-feeling and motivational team work. Local touts too, in the name of politics etc. may sometimes hamper the achievement of the project that must need proper attention and care.
The project has been formulated and chalked out with utmost prudence by experienced corner, but yet the addition of elements regarding developing individual economic capital of the poor villagers through improved savings attitude by providing incentives to individual saving practices (contributing micro saving) could be a huge outlay on rural development purpose. Managing this sector, however logical, may in the long run be mismatched if the scenario of the past be in any way repeated by our people working in many nation-building departments. And as such due care and caution through proper monitoring and supervision could be a tool to redress the loopholes in this regard. Selecting group leaders, trainers and trainees and linking all nation-building Government agencies is a priority and that must be done keeping keen eyes of some NGO activities already being run in the areas concerned. There is every chance of inclusion of overlapping or duplication that could hamper the objective of the project.
French Philosopher-writer Voltaire (1694 - 1778) says, ' Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.' Many NGO's and GOB agencies have been in many ways working in our country since a long time but still we cannot claim to evolve any unique suitable solution for our national up-lift. We ran in many trial and errors during different regimes. There are also examples of abandoning fruitful ongoing projects run by one government simply because of the plea of those were undertaken by the other.
NGO's undoubtedly did much in our socio-cultural advancement, albeit we experienced many such NGO's being involved in activities that made our people apparently feel that the nation-building departments inefficient. But the implementation process of the project, we believe, would certainly make a break through if and only if the said corners stand with proper zeal and feeling for turning out all ill reputes. In spite of many projects and programmes our rural economy advanced a little in quality. We do not know about the actual beneficiaries of previous strives. Could we make our common people motivated with due alertness as to work hard to change the lot of them and thus changing positively the lot of our beloved Bangladesh? Are we really trying to attain true perfection?
French philosopher and social commentator Montesquieu (1689 - 1755) says, ' If Europe shall ever be ruined, it will be by its warriors.' So before making aware the mass people of the country we need to change our total attitude towards society and cultural arena. Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar should never be treated as the project of political benefit alone, our hard-earned money is involved in it where all people can claim the transparency and accountability in a better implementation for the country as a whole. Thus the Government is to carry out a great task ahead, failure of which might harm the whole country. People of all sectors have to be involved to make the implementation success. Otherwise the money spent from the exchequer in course of time would be futile and an apple of diatribe.
Many projects and programmes of the government on rural development and socio-culture do not see proper success because of lack in field knowledge and skill of the advisours, actors and motivators who are mostly more theoretical than practical and without rural acquaintance. There is also a threat from some so-called activists in the name of politics.
If properly implemented, Ektee Bari Ekti Khamar or One House One Farm will mark a new epoch in some fields of rural development in Bangladesh.
The writer is Secretary to the government (Retd) samarpaul_52@yahoo.com
Rural Development and Cooperative Division under the Ministry of LGRD&C launched a unique project titled 'Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar (One House One Farm)' with a target of changing the lot of rural people positively.
Estimated cost of the 5 year (2009 - 2014) Project was initially determined to be Tk 11.97 billion, where the revised 4 year (2009 - 2013) revised one stood at Tk. 14.93 billion. Meanwhile, the implementation phase started with ardent warmth by the Government machinery. The project would be implemented in all 483 Upazilas of the country.
The huge project would be executed solely by the government-owned agencies like Rural Development and Cooperative Division and its co-organisations, namely- BRDB, BARD, Comilla, RDA, Bogra, Department of Cooperatives, PDBF, SFDF in association with District and Upazila administration in particular. Total cost of the project would be borne by the government fund alone. It is expected that the project, outstanding in itself would be able to reduce national poverty up to 20 per cent from existing 40 per cent by the year 2015 making each household a sustainable income generating unit through maximum and justified utilisation and exploitation of human and other suitable economic resources.
The very objective of Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar is to make self-reliant families in rural Bangladesh where the people would empower themselves through requisite motivation, proper training, adequate and need-based micro-credit, material support, group building, voluntary enthusiasm and capital formation.
The project involves some high-level committees and people of high esteem to look after in various stages through regular and keen supervision, monitoring, discussion, interactions, problem shooting and ensuring transparency and accountability. Real, meaningful and pragmatic utilisation of efficient manpower and expertise of our nation-building sectors could be one of the major potential of the project. But still it is not out of belief that we have in past experienced many fruitful and ideal projects and programmes to fall flat due to apathy, cantankerous situations, and lack of compassion, sacrificial tendency, fellow-feeling and motivational team work. Local touts too, in the name of politics etc. may sometimes hamper the achievement of the project that must need proper attention and care.
The project has been formulated and chalked out with utmost prudence by experienced corner, but yet the addition of elements regarding developing individual economic capital of the poor villagers through improved savings attitude by providing incentives to individual saving practices (contributing micro saving) could be a huge outlay on rural development purpose. Managing this sector, however logical, may in the long run be mismatched if the scenario of the past be in any way repeated by our people working in many nation-building departments. And as such due care and caution through proper monitoring and supervision could be a tool to redress the loopholes in this regard. Selecting group leaders, trainers and trainees and linking all nation-building Government agencies is a priority and that must be done keeping keen eyes of some NGO activities already being run in the areas concerned. There is every chance of inclusion of overlapping or duplication that could hamper the objective of the project.
French Philosopher-writer Voltaire (1694 - 1778) says, ' Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.' Many NGO's and GOB agencies have been in many ways working in our country since a long time but still we cannot claim to evolve any unique suitable solution for our national up-lift. We ran in many trial and errors during different regimes. There are also examples of abandoning fruitful ongoing projects run by one government simply because of the plea of those were undertaken by the other.
NGO's undoubtedly did much in our socio-cultural advancement, albeit we experienced many such NGO's being involved in activities that made our people apparently feel that the nation-building departments inefficient. But the implementation process of the project, we believe, would certainly make a break through if and only if the said corners stand with proper zeal and feeling for turning out all ill reputes. In spite of many projects and programmes our rural economy advanced a little in quality. We do not know about the actual beneficiaries of previous strives. Could we make our common people motivated with due alertness as to work hard to change the lot of them and thus changing positively the lot of our beloved Bangladesh? Are we really trying to attain true perfection?
French philosopher and social commentator Montesquieu (1689 - 1755) says, ' If Europe shall ever be ruined, it will be by its warriors.' So before making aware the mass people of the country we need to change our total attitude towards society and cultural arena. Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar should never be treated as the project of political benefit alone, our hard-earned money is involved in it where all people can claim the transparency and accountability in a better implementation for the country as a whole. Thus the Government is to carry out a great task ahead, failure of which might harm the whole country. People of all sectors have to be involved to make the implementation success. Otherwise the money spent from the exchequer in course of time would be futile and an apple of diatribe.
Many projects and programmes of the government on rural development and socio-culture do not see proper success because of lack in field knowledge and skill of the advisours, actors and motivators who are mostly more theoretical than practical and without rural acquaintance. There is also a threat from some so-called activists in the name of politics.
If properly implemented, Ektee Bari Ekti Khamar or One House One Farm will mark a new epoch in some fields of rural development in Bangladesh.
The writer is Secretary to the government (Retd) samarpaul_52@yahoo.com