On Wednesday, September 13, 2017 10:00 AM, Muhammad Ali <manik195709@yahoo.com> wrote:
On Wednesday, September 13, 2017 10:00 AM, Muhammad Ali <manik195709@yahoo.com> wrote:
On Wednesday, September 13, 2017 9:59 AM, Muhammad Ali <manik195709@yahoo.com> wrote:
On Wednesday, September 13, 2017 9:58 AM, Muhammad Ali <manik195709@yahoo.com> wrote:
Bangladesh prospers under PM Sheikh Hasina's leadership
A piece of good news from a World Bank report went almost unnoticed. It stated that in 2000, six crore thirty lakh people lived below poverty lines in Bangladesh, but this figure came down to four crore thirty lakh in 2010.
The credit for this goes to the government's untiring efforts at alleviating poverty. Despite increase in population during the period there has been 26% decline in the number of people living below poverty line. People living below poverty line are those whose daily income is less than $2 and calory intake is less than 2100 gm.
The World Bank report has revealed that infant mortality rate has declined and literacy rate increased in Bangladesh during this time. 98% of the country's girls have joined primary schools which is an all time record. This too can be attributed to the present government's efforts to ensure gender parity and spread education in the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has vowed to pull out the remaining ultra-poor people of the country from their hardship through various programmes within the next three years as her government's main focus is to build a hunger and poverty free Bangladesh by 2018.
There has been manifold increase in employment generation and 10% increase in opportunities for self employment and self reliance. There has also been increase in employment opportunities. Families nowadays have more than one wage earner. Average income has increased by 5.5% during ten years from 2002 to 2012. The New Age, Wall Street Journal, The Economist and many other international magazines have hailed Bangladesh's economic progress as among the best by any South Asian country.
During the last five years Bangladesh has made rapid strides in various fields including agriculture, environment, disaster management and manpower development. In 2000 only 10% of those living below poverty line were covered under electrification programme. This field has witnessed rapid progress and in 2012, 42% of such people have been covered under the same.
The economists of Standard Chartered Bank believe that Bangladesh would soon be able to join 'Seven Point Club' (an association of countries achieving 7% economic development) and this is something to be proud of.
Provisional GDP growth rate in the current fiscal year has reached 6.51% although the government was earlier hopeful of achieving 7%. GDP growth rate could have reached 7% had there been no loss during January to March period this year due to violent politics, arson attacks and vandalism during the blockade and hartal enforced by BNP and its allies. Per capita income in the current fiscal year rose to $ 1314 which was $ 1190 in the preceding fiscal year. Bangladesh is on the cusp of becoming a middle-income country as its per capita income rose to $ 1314 this fiscal year meeting the World Bank's criteria. Bangladesh will become a middle-income nation if it achieves at least an average per capita income of $ 1,045 for three consecutive years.
Mustafizur Rahman, Executive Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue, said this is a provisional figure and World Bank will not confirm the status on the basis of provisional figure. He, however, said Bangladesh might get lower middle-income status next year.
As a global leader, Sheikh Hasina has been maintaining healthy foreign relations with all the powerful countries including Russia, China, Japan and India. The politically strong position she is enjoying is reflected in the independent foreign policy her government pursued over the past few years. Besides strengthening links with India, Hasina has gone for deepening ties with China and Russia. This has effectively conveyed the idea that the country, for all the difficulties it may have with the West, is in a position to enter new alignments in its neighbourhood.
Raising her voice over Israeli atrocities in Gaza, Hasina drew attention of global leaders pleading them to come forward to stop such strikes on unarmed Palestinians. She also urged United Nations to act rightfully over the issue.
Attending the 69th UN General Assembly, she urged the UN to play the central role as custodian of global peace, security and development as she said the volatile global security situation continues to pose a significant challenge to international development.
World leaders are happy with Sheikh Hasina-led government's resolve to make the country a middle-income one by 2021 and a developed one by 2041. Her government is going ahead in implementing her party's manifesto 'Vision 2021' to build a hunger and poverty free Bangladesh. After assuming the office for second consecutive term she visited China and Japan and she was assured of getting more investments from the Asian super powers to materialize her government's plan.
It is for her good governance that many international organizations including the UN had accoladed Sheikh Hasina with prestigious awards in recognition to her efforts. She received the 'South-South Award' for her government's achievements in alleviating poverty. She recently got recognition from the UNESCO for her tireless efforts to promote girls' education in Bangladesh. The UNESCO presented a memento titled 'Peace Tree' in recognition of her outstanding contribution in girls' education.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization awarded the prestigious CERES medal to Sheikh Hasina in recognition to her fight against hunger, while the GAVI Alliance recognized Bangladesh for best immunization performance among six large populous countries which are eligible for its support this year. GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private global health partnership committed to increasing access to immunization in poor countries. Bangladesh has shown leadership in reducing the number of un-immunized children by 52% in last four years.
In 2006 Sheikh Hasina won Mother Teresa Lifetime Achievement Award for her unmatched contribution in public life. She also received UNESCO's Houphouet-Boigny Peace Prize in 1998 for her contribution to bringing peace through ending 25 years of conflict in Chittagong Hill Tracts with political courage and statesmanship. She was also awarded with Indira Gandhi Peace Prize for peace, disarmament and development in 2010. In 2013 Sheikh Hasina received the Rotary Peace Prize from Rotary International in recognition of her endeavour to promote peace among communities and across the globe.
Sheikh Hasina received UN Award for Millennium Development Goal Achievement (child mortality) in 2010 for reducing Bangladesh's child mortality by 50%. The Mahatma MK Gandhi Foundation of Oslo awarded her with MK Gandhi award for her contribution towards promotion of communal understanding, non-violent religious harmony and growth of democracy at grass roots level in Bangladesh. In May 2015, Cornell University of the United States honoured her with a citation in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the development of agriculture sector and ensuring food security in Bangladesh.
Economically, Bangladesh has progressed steadily under Sheikh Hasina-led government since 2008-09. Foreign currency reserves, which in January 2007 stood at US $ 3.74 billion, went up to $ 5.8 billion in 2008, and according to official statistics provided by the Bank of Bangladesh, crossed US $ 12 billion mark in 2011. In 2013, the reserves crossed $ 18 billion mark. Forex reserves continued to rise amid violent political tension which badly affected the economy and surpassed $ 23 billion mark in March 2015. This amount is the highest in Bangladesh's independent history.
Under the present ruling dispensation, the dependence on foreign aids and imports has been decreasing gradually. Bangladesh's labour-intensive agriculture sector has achieved steady increase in food grain production despite political unrest, frequent natural calamities and unfavourable weather conditions. This has been possible due to better flood control and irrigation, efficient use of fertilizers, better distribution and rural credit networks.
Bangladesh has overtaken India in garment exports, which in 2014 was pegged at US $ 3.12 billion every month. For the fiscal year 2014-15 the government has set an export target of $ 26.9 billion from the readymade garments sector. Bangladesh's textile industry which includes knitwear and readymade garments along with specialized textile products is the nation's number one export earner, accounting for US $ 21.5 billion in 2013 or 80% of Bangladesh's total export of US $ 27 billion. Now, under the present regime, Bangladesh is ranked second globally in terms of textile products, just behind China. The industry employs nearly 3.5 million workers.
Popularity and acceptance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina continue to remain on upward spiral all along for her role in leading the country forward, ensuring socio-economic development amid political unrest, trying war criminals and curbing violence and militancy. World leaders have praised her for playing a major role in attaining economic growth amid global recession, gaining millennium development goals, reducing poverty and curbing militancy with an iron fist.
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