Govt aims at reducing resource distribution gap among regions
Tuesday, 10 July 2007
FHM Humayan Kabir
The caretaker administration has taken vigorous initiatives to promoting the goals of balanced regional development through public resource allocation.
Sources in the Planning Commission (PC) said the administration has taken the matter seriously for reducing the gap in resource distribution among the regions.
According to official sources, the northern (Rajshahi Division) and southern (Khulna and Barisal) regions are less fortunate than other regions in terms of resource allocation.
The PC sources said that the government allocated Tk 29.535 billion under the current fiscal's annual development programme (ADP) for the most deprived northern region. The allocation is Tk 7.57 billion or 34 per cent higher than that of the revised ADP of last fiscal 2006-07.
For the southern region (Khulna and Barisal division), the government allocated Tk 26.53 billion in the current ADP. The ADP allocation for the region is Tk 7.86 billion or 42 per cent higher than that of the revised ADP of the last fiscal, the PC sources said.
The government allocated a total of Tk 265 billion in the current ADP in order to ensure equitable development across the country.
According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2005 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the Barisal Division was on the top of the poverty index with a 52 per cent poverty rate.
The poverty rate in the Rajshahi Division was 51.2 per cent, followed by 45.7 per cent in Khulna, 34 per cent in Chittagong, 33.8 per cent in Sylhet and 32 per cent in Dhaka, the BBS survey showed.
A senior PC official said that the present government saw the high poverty rate in Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal divisions as a major obstacle to the overall development of the country.
"If resources cannot be mobilised in the less developed and poverty-stricken regions, a balanced growth in the national economy will not be possible. So, the government is serious about balanced regional development," he said.
The official informed the FE that the government had taken some special measurers this fiscal to review the development status of the less-developed regions and their requirement of funds in future days.
The caretaker administration has taken vigorous initiatives to promoting the goals of balanced regional development through public resource allocation.
Sources in the Planning Commission (PC) said the administration has taken the matter seriously for reducing the gap in resource distribution among the regions.
According to official sources, the northern (Rajshahi Division) and southern (Khulna and Barisal) regions are less fortunate than other regions in terms of resource allocation.
The PC sources said that the government allocated Tk 29.535 billion under the current fiscal's annual development programme (ADP) for the most deprived northern region. The allocation is Tk 7.57 billion or 34 per cent higher than that of the revised ADP of last fiscal 2006-07.
For the southern region (Khulna and Barisal division), the government allocated Tk 26.53 billion in the current ADP. The ADP allocation for the region is Tk 7.86 billion or 42 per cent higher than that of the revised ADP of the last fiscal, the PC sources said.
The government allocated a total of Tk 265 billion in the current ADP in order to ensure equitable development across the country.
According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2005 of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the Barisal Division was on the top of the poverty index with a 52 per cent poverty rate.
The poverty rate in the Rajshahi Division was 51.2 per cent, followed by 45.7 per cent in Khulna, 34 per cent in Chittagong, 33.8 per cent in Sylhet and 32 per cent in Dhaka, the BBS survey showed.
A senior PC official said that the present government saw the high poverty rate in Rajshahi, Khulna and Barisal divisions as a major obstacle to the overall development of the country.
"If resources cannot be mobilised in the less developed and poverty-stricken regions, a balanced growth in the national economy will not be possible. So, the government is serious about balanced regional development," he said.
The official informed the FE that the government had taken some special measurers this fiscal to review the development status of the less-developed regions and their requirement of funds in future days.