Promoting inclusive development in Bangladesh: What needs to be done

Today, Bangladesh aspires to build a just society free from disparity, exploitation and exclusion. To achieve this aspiration, the country intends to pursue the goal of inclusive development.

Inclusive development is characterized by three dimensions: sustained and pro-poor growth; equity and equality; and people’s participation and ownership.

Sustained pro-poor growth requires the poor and marginalized to be actively involved in generating growth and reaping more benefits from it, leading to narrowing of income inequality between rich and poor. Equity from the perspective of inclusive development implies equity in the availability of resources, access to basic social services and income distribution, and equality in rights, in the rule of law, in opportunities.

Participation means people taking part in the processes and decisions that affect people’s lives, and ownership refers to people’s ownership of development. Measures to promote inclusive development must be concrete, tangible and pragmatic.

Furthermore, the policy matrix for such development must be based on the mutual synergies of its various components, where both policies and institutions are important. To pursue inclusive development in Bangladesh, the following measures are essential on the three pillars of inclusive development – ​​sustained and pro-poor growth; equity in resources, services and income distribution; and people’s participation and ownership of development.

Policies to sustain economic growth and promote it to the poor

The first pillar of inclusive development – ​​sustained and pro-poor growth – encompasses two broader sets of policies. First, a macroeconomic framework that promotes sustained growth and, second, makes that growth pro-poor.

A macroeconomic framework for sustained growth can pursue three interventions. One, the expansion of public investment programs in economic and social infrastructure through fiscal policies and the provision of credit through monetary policies for high-productivity sectors such as manufacturing, exports, and agro-industry.

Second, making investments in sectors that would result in long-term growth benefits and minimize the pursuit of prestige projects. Three, supporting climate adaptation and promoting low-carbon development in Bangladesh to ensure the sustainable management of natural resources, which is a key aspect of sustained growth in the country.

For development to be inclusive, people should not remain passive beneficiaries of development, rather they should actively participate in the development process. Such active participation would mean that people would have a voice in development decisions that affect their lives.

Making growth pro-poor should focus on five areas.

One, it is about productive, modern, innovative agriculture for employment, livelihood, food security and poverty reduction and non-agricultural rural economy in Bangladesh by stimulating diversified activities through a comprehensive rural development policy.

Second, pursuing employment-based growth rather than growth-based employment, as the former strategy would make growth pro-poor if the emphasis on employment is in the sectors where poor people live and he works

Third, Bangladesh should invest in expanding the capacities and opportunities for women and girls in terms of their access to health and education services and in promoting their economic, legal and political capacity.

Women’s access to safe infrastructure (e.g. roads), more information technology, productive assets such as land and credit, water and electricity, which reduces their burden of household activities, is essential for their empowerment.

Fourth, the development and implementation of a robust, relevant and pragmatic social protection framework in Bangladesh as it contributes to reducing poverty and inequality. Five targeted interventions for marginalized and vulnerable groups such as older people, people with disabilities and people living on fragile land.

Ensuring equity in resources, access to basic social services and income redistribution

Policy interventions in ensuring resource equity can cover three areas – firstly, an equitable distribution of land. Land tenure reform is essential in Bangladesh for equitable distribution of a major productive asset. Second, a pro-poor policy in the financial sector for the systematic allocation of credit to the poor, small-scale entrepreneurs and producers in the informal sector. Three, ensuring adequate, reliable and equitable access to clean energy. Equitable access to modern energy services, making energy affordable for poor households and small-scale producers, ensures that the growth generated is inclusive.

To make basic social services accessible to the poor, three policy interventions can be useful. One, making public investments in the expansion of basic social services in the areas of health, education, drinking water and basic sanitation. Public-private partnerships are also important for service delivery.

Second, Bangladesh should develop a framework to make these services sensitive to five ‘A’s’, crucial to poor people – availability, affordability, affordability, adoptability and adaptability. Third, ensuring that poor people get better quality services and do not have to compromise on sub-standard services.

A fair distribution of income requires three measures. One is progressive income taxes for income redistribution. Second, the subsidization of selected commodities, which have a large share in the expenditure of poor people in Bangladesh. Such subsidies have the greatest impact on combating urban poverty. Third, building a broad political coalition in the country for the effective implementation of a redistributive strategy.

Participation and ownership of development by people

If development is to be inclusive, people should not remain passive beneficiaries of development, but rather should actively participate in the development process. Such active participation would mean that people would have a voice in development decisions that affect their lives.

They will have the opportunity to make their voices heard in the formulation of development programs and projects. Local government eg Union and Upazila level administration in Bangladesh can provide such platforms.

Second, people must also participate in acting as overseers of development expenditure. This has two advantages. First, such people’s vigilance would enhance the transparency and accountability of development administration. Second, this would allow us to have a say if a change of course is needed.

Third, people should take part in the monitoring and evaluation of development policies, programs and projects. Through all these processes, development would be owned by the people, without which the country’s achievements would remain as ‘progress’ and not ‘development’.

The goal of equitable development would not be achieved without an inclusive development trajectory. Ultimately, development is of the people, for the people and by the people.

Selim Jahan is the former Director of the Human Development Report Office and Poverty Division, United Nations Development Programme, New York, USA.