Bangladesh is far ahead of its peers in most socio-economic indicators--I

Globally esteemed news weekly "The Economist" has recently published a small report on per capita income of Bangladesh. That small report claimed that Bangladesh has progressed more than Pakistan in the per capita income indicator. 

At the end of June (2017), per capita income of Bangladesh was reported as US$ 1538 by this weekly. On the contrary, Pakistan's per capita income was quoted as US$ 1470 for the same year, US$ 68 less than Bangladesh.  I was indeed, very happy to read the report, particularly at a moment when so many negative news and events have been overwhelming the media. 

Truly speaking it made me proud about my country which used to be often trashed by the global media as a land of natural disaster and persistent hunger. I was then recollecting both of our past and present socio-economic positions. The Economist's report claimed that Bangladesh has been achieving more than 6 percent of GDP Growth Rate for a decade. For the past two years, Bangladesh has achieved more than seven percent of growth rate.

 At the same time, Pakistan has achieved 3-4 percent of growth rate on an average during the same period. The latest World Economic Outlook, October 2017 of IMF also supports Bangladesh's better performance in GDP growth in the region. The projected the growth rate of Bangladesh for the year 2017 is 7.1 percent. This compares exceedingly better than its peers. For examples, Indian growth rate for this year has been projected as 6.7 percent. Pakistan's growth rate will be 5.3 percent this year. 

The projections for next two years in Pakistan will not exceed 6 percent while it will not be less than 7 percent for these years in Bangladesh. However, Indian growth rate will be higher than Bangladesh as well in the coming two years. Sri Lanka will grow at 4.7 percent this year. Even Chinese growth rate this year will be 6.8 percent which looks lower than that of Bangladesh.

The Economist report has also stated that at the end of the Liberation War of 1971 in Bangladesh, only 6-7 percent of GDP used to be contributed by the industrial sector. At that time Pakistan's industrial sector contributed 20 percent of its GDP. At present, 29 percent of Bangladesh's GDP comes from its industrial sector. This proportion is constantly increasing day by day. The contribution of textile sub-sector in expanding industrial GDP deserves to be especially noted here. In case of Ready-made garments export, Bangladesh's performance has been simply mind-boggling. Bangladesh now exports more RMGs than the total of the same of both India and Pakistan.

Bangladesh's rapidly decreasing population growth rate is, of course, the main reason behind its higher per capita GDP than that of Pakistan. Bangladesh's population growth rate is 1.2 percent as against 2.1 percent in Pakistan. We have to keep in mind that when we defeated Pakistan and created Bangladesh, our population was almost 80 million.  Although Pakistan is five times larger than Bangladesh in terms of land area, its population was 70 million at that time.  Today, our population is 160 million compared to Pakistan's 210 million. 

In addition, Bangladesh is far ahead of its peers in almost all socio-economic indicators. Even in human development indices, Bangladesh can be an inspiring example. At present, Bangladesh's life expectancy is 72.2 years, compared to Pakistan's 66.4 years, almost 6 years less than us. Also our life expectancy is about four years higher than our nearest large neighbor i.e. India (68.3 years). 

Bangladesh's child mortality rate is 31 in 1000, against Pakistan's 66 in 1000. The mean schooling of our children is 10.2 years on an average whereas it is 8.1 years in Pakistan. Our rate of secondary education is 42 percent, whereas it is 20 percent in Pakistan - less than half of us.  Our enrollment rate in primary education is almost hundred percent, nearly seven percent higher than that of Pakistan. Our Human Development Index is 0.58 whereas Pakistan's is 0.55. Bangladesh's Gender Development Index is 0.927 whereas Pakistan's is 0.741. India's GDI is 0.819.

Moreover, 59.4 percent of our 15+ years aged populations are engaged in work.  A great number of these people are women. In case of Pakistan, only 51 percent of 15+ years aged populations are engaged in work and women's participation is far lower than ours. Our exports and imports jointly account for 42.1 percent of total GDP whereas comparative figure for Pakistan is 28.1 percent of GDP. If we take 2000 as the base year, then our export index value now stands as 506.79, whereas Pakistan's figure is 245.77. 

Farmers in Bangladesh are quite well-off and happier in comparison with their counterparts who are still struggling in the feudal setting in Pakistan. Besides agriculture, non-agricultural activities have also contributed significantly in our rural economy. Opportunities for sending remittances to the villages from cities and abroad have also increased.

In Bangladesh, more than one thousand Crore Taka is being sent from cities to rural areas every day through mobile banking. Rural branches of other banks are also very active. Agent banking is also flourishing to serve the unserved. As a result, rural economy of Bangladesh is becoming more vibrant. It is in this vein that the income inequality in Bangladesh is much lower than that in Pakistan. Using numerous indices such as these we can easily claim that we are far ahead of Pakistan, a country with which we severed our ties years ago in our brave journey towards prosperity and progress. 

Whenever I speak publicly, I always try to point out how Bangladesh has been progressing in various indices compared to her other neighboring countries. We have been able to change our fate because of our hard-earned independence. The explosion of aspirations that followed our independence was at the root of our indomitable fighting spirit for economic freedom. Besides successes in the economic front, Bangladesh has so many other achievements as well.  Bangladesh's success in the Peace Keeping Mission of the United Nations is globally recognized.

Wherever Bangladesh Army and Police have worked, the humanitarian role of Bangladesh has always been appreciated. In one of the African countries, Bangla has been established as the Second Language. Thousands of our workers and entrepreneurs are working abroad now. In each and every country of their mission, their efficiency, honesty, professionalism and peace- loving nature have been praised and cherished. These praises for our countrymen and women brought so much of joy and pleasure to me whenever I visited those countries. 

This pride has not been created in a day or two. We all had to work hard for this positive image-building. Today's younger generation may not know how much exploitation, inequality and injustice we had to face during Pakistan period. Our fore-fathers supported 'the demand for Pakistan' in the referendum of 1946 mainly for economic freedom which was promised to them. But it did not take very long for the Bengalese to realize that a Pakistan effectively ruled by civil-military elite was nothing but a rogue state inflicting torture, inequality and indignity to them. In 1947, Pakistan was born. And by 1948 Bengalese had to protest and raise their voices to protect the honor of Bengali language.

Within a few years, the true leader of the Bengali nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had to come forward to launch Awami Muslim League and later Awami League with support from both of his younger and elderly peers. He was also able to enthuse the students and youths to stand by the cause they were espousing. The 1952 Language Movement and later many other national movements shaped and structured the Bengali persona and entity. Indeed, the seed of Bengali nationalism was laid in 1952. Gradually Bangabandhu found himself at the center of the movement which ignited the people's aspirations for an independent Bengali nation. 

Eventually Bangabandhu led our nation towards freedom braving difficult challenges. Perceiving the inner spirit of Liberation War, Bangabandhu went for early economic emancipation of the toiling masses once destiny put him in charge of leading the independent Bangladesh. As a part of this new journey he went for reconstructing the essential infrastructure, writing constitution, preparing economic plans, laws and regulations. He was not cowed down by the daunting challenges. Rather he overcame all these challenges and whole-heartedly tried to bring smile on the faces of each and every citizen of our country. 
Source: https://dailyasianage.com

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