Bangladesh has been doing better in socio-economic front for over more than last two decades. The gross domestic product (GDP) has been growing at a steady rate resulting in per capita GDP of about US $940. The economy has been bestowed with the benefits of RMG exports and foreign remittances. The longevity of life has increased to an average of 64 years. The literacy rate has increased. Gender parity has been achieved in primary and secondary level. Women enjoy more freedom in socio-political field. Sanitation has improved. Child mortality and maternal mortality have been reduced. Bangladesh has achieved remarkable progress as per certain parameters of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including poverty reduction.
A Washington-based organisation Social Progress Imperative released a multi-country analysis report titled the Social Progress Index on April 3. According to this index Bangladesh was ranked 99 among 132 countries. Among the South Asian countries Bangladesh scored higher than India, Nepal and Pakistan while lagging behind only to Sri Lanka.
A multi-country analysis of common standards has been made to see in general whether a country has the ability to provide its citizens with basic needs, creates scopes for development of full potentials of the citizens and improve their standard of life.
The strengths of the Bangladesh society have been categorised as reduced child mortality rate, reduced deaths from infectious diseases, gender parity in secondary enrollment, reduced human trafficking and child marriage, increased demand for contraception, respectful treatment of women and improvement in life expectancy. In the context of Bangladesh , it has enumerated the weaknesses covering less press freedom , less freedom of religion , religious intolerance , higher still birth rate , less community safety nets , higher levels of violent crimes and etc. The report has portrayed that Bangladesh's position in the field of slavery, child marriage, human trafficking and sanitation is relatively better than that of India. The situation of gender parity in secondary education is also better in Bangladesh than in Pakistan and Nepal.
Bangladesh can boast of its ranking. But social progress entails many things. It refers to citizens' access to education, health services, water and sanitation, power and energy, freedom of thought, press and assembly, law and order situation and availability of employment.
Unfortunately, there are dropouts in every level of education. There is lack of quality education and a discriminatory education system is prevailing. About 75 per cent of secondary and higher secondary pass-outs get GPA-5 but most of them cannot qualify to get admission in undergraduate and graduate levels of education. There are different brands of education like British, American, Canadian, Australian, private and public. Education is very costly in private educational institutions. This has denied access to thousands of aspirants.
Medicare on the other hand is very costly for the large majority of the population. In almost every public health centres and hospitals, patients get free prescriptions. But they have to bear the cost of medicines and medical tests There is dearth of doctors and nurses in many health centres and complexes. Many of the doctors posted in the rural areas remain on deputation in Dhaka and elsewhere. Serious patients, getting no medical facilities in districts and sub-districts, succumb to death on their way to Dhaka due to traffic hazards.
Safe drinking water is scarce and more than 40 per cent of population lacks sanitation facilities. Rivers are being polluted. Electricity still could not reach 60 per cent of population. There is frequent load shedding. Industries and factories are not getting required gas and electricity. There are serious traffic hazards. There are road accidents. Deaths and injuries are galore every day. There are killings including extra-judicial ones. There are extortions. There is a lot of allegations against law enforcers.
Political uncertainty, some accidents in the RMG sector and overall law and order situation dampen investment, both foreign and local. The rate of employment generation is, therefore, poor. Half of the working force is unemployed or under-employed. Unemployed youngsters become inclined to party politics resulting in many untoward incidents. In recent times, the situation has come to such a pass that people were denied their rights of franchise in both national and local elections. All these factors have direct bearing on social progress.
Bangladesh has achieved a lot. The head count poverty has come down to 25 per cent of the population. Gender parity in secondary level education has been achieved. Child mortality has been reduced. There is a wide network of health service institutions in the country. There is a health and sanitation campaign. But alas ! The service delivery is poor. People do not have easy access to most of the services. Investors do not feel secure in investment. Employment generation is meagre. A sense of insecurity prevails in the society. All these point to mis-governance. Good governance having people's trust can pave the way for development of the people's full potential, meeting their basic needs and ushering in scopes for better life. And this is what social progress connotes.
The writer is an economist and columnist.
chowdhuryjafar@ymail.com
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