During his recent visit to Bangladesh, World Bank President Jim Young Kim laid emphasis on training and development of human resources. According to him, investment in human resources is as important as in infrastructure. Of course, this is not a new sermon. No state did or could develop without proper education and training particularly in a sustainable way. The programme is to start with education along with the basic health care services. In Bangladesh, certain steps have been taken to provide very elementary medicare through community medical centres.
The situation in the health service sector is far from satisfactory. Budgetary allocation is meagre. The allocation is around 4.2 per cent to 4.7 per cent taking revenue and development budgets together for a nation of 160 million people. About Tk 1,000-Tk 1,200 is the available amount per head. Because of this resource constraint, the government hospitals cannot provide the required medicines for the people under treatment. So far as private investment is concerned, these have failed to serve the poor class. Some very well- equipped clinics have been established by the private sector but these are beyond the reach of even the middle-income group people.
There has been a rise of per capita income where the change of the base year is a factor. Per capita income has got nothing to do with individual income and does not ensure income equity of the people. Any way, development of Bangladesh in various sectors has definitely drawn the attention of the world and appreciations are coming.
But there is the story of untold sufferings surpassing the theory on appreciation. Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen firmly holds that there cannot be any famine in a democratic state. But, in India, which has been enjoying democracy for the last seven decades, farmers are committing suicides every year in increasing numbers because they are overburdened with agricultural loan. India occupies the top place among the countries with TB patients and malnourished babies".
In Bangladesh, treatment of diseases like kidney, liver, heart diseases and cancer is beyond the reach of the poor and lower middle-class people. Frequent appeals from the parents of the affected patients are found in the media, particularly in the print media for extending medical assistance. Some newspapers are kind enough to publish the appeals free of charge.
Of course, the government cannot afford enough money because of the budgetary constraints. Even the small amount for health service is not properly spent because of poor governance.
We are proud of development of the pharmaceutical industry. It is indeed a great achievement as Bangladesh exports medicines to the US market which maintains a high standard of products to be imported or marketed in the USA. The US Federal Drug Administration officials visit the pharmaceutical factories and see the production process and environment. But the pharmaceutical sector in Bangladesh is not pro-people.
GOOD GOVERNANCE: Bangladesh has no doubt achieved economic success in many sectors. Some of the social indices are higher compared to those of the neighbouring countries. The success in alleviating poverty has been hailed by no less a person than the President of the World Bank. He believes that the Bangladesh model will be replicated in other developing countries.
There is, however, a dark cloud following the silver lining. Absence of the rule of law and good governance has overshadowed the success of the government. At the personal initiative of the prime minister, women have been appointed in many high posts. Almost all government and autonomous bodies have female members in high positions.
But at the grassroots level, incidents of killings and rapes have been increasing at an alarming rate. Same are the cases with child abuses and torture. Brutal ways of torturing the children are invented daily. Law-enforcing agencies have earned spectacular success in containing the terrorists but they cannot still unearth the mystery of killing of a girl named Tonu. This indicates that the process of justice is sometimes thwarted and the movement of social justice is stymied. The achievement of the government cannot be sustained if good governance is not ensured.
Bureaucracy has become stale and directionless. It has to be revamped. That is possible only by establishing local government system to be elected democratically through free and fair elections. Because, this alone can ensure good governance and rule of law.
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