The rural economy must be given the utmost importance to continue the overall economic development and progress of the country once the ongoing Covid- 19 pandemic eases, said experts.
At the same time, agricultural and industrial production will also have to be kept activated as demand and supply might appear as a great challenge, they said.
They opined that the rural economy is the main driving force of development. And this is why village haats, trade and commerce centres have to be activated gradually, so that the supply chain of the farmers’ products remains activated. Accordingly,
transportation and fair prices for the farmers must be ensured. Unless farmers get fair prices, they will lose interest in production which would create a negative impact on the overall economy.
The experts also said the incentive packages announced to face the COVID-19 pandemic should also be ensured to overcome the losses in the agricultural and trading sectors.
Non-governmental organisations Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) and the Brac have published reports mentioning that a large number of people would become jobless due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its report has said that around 160 crore people in the world are at the risk of losing jobs.
Bangladesh is also at the same risk.
In the circumstances, the village economy as well as job opportunities in rural areas must be kept activated.
Not only that, job opportunities must be created for those people, who have moved to villages after leaving different cities. Otherwise, around six crore people of the country will face a food crisis, and thus, a social crisis.
In this regard, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 19 in her speech in the Parliament said her administration is firmly committed to ensuring balanced development with reaching civic amenities to each of the villages by accelerating the pace of village development alongside the development of the towns.
The Prime Minister has highlighted various initiatives of her government in different sectors for overall rural development to reach civic amenities to each of the villages with a slogan “My Village, My Town.”
Regarding modernisation of agriculture, she said, the government is now giving up to 50 percent to 70 percent development assistance to the farmers to purchase agricultural equipment alongside giving 20 percent rebate on the electricity bill in case of its use in irrigation.
The government has been arranging uninterrupted power supply during the Boro season, distributing high yielding seeds among the farmers at fair price, distributing fertilizers and seeds among the small and marginal farmers, she also said.
On development of communication networks, she said her government has now been creating a ‘village road network’ for extension of civic amenities to each of the villages.
The premier said her government is implementing “Amar Bari Amar Khamar” project involving Taka 81,027 crore by which 75,993 village development cooperatives will be formed to facilitate nearly 3.64 million families from 2009 to 2020.
Besides, in the national budget of 2020-21, special projects have been taken to turn villages into towns.
A senior official of the LGD division said under LGD Division, some 206 projects are being implemented to reach urban amenities to the rural areas.
Out of 21 pledges made by AL in its electoral manifesto, he said, at least six are directly connected with the Local Government Division (LGD).
The pledges are- ‘My village, my town expansion of modern urban amenities in rural areas’, ‘city and town plan, planned development’, ‘Sustainable and inclusive development, ‘Prosperous Bangladesh’, ‘Women empowerment’, ‘Poverty alleviation and reducing discrimination’, and ‘Communication’.
To implement ‘My Village-My Town’, the LGD official said by engaging elected public representatives of the local government institutions, the LGD is taking necessary development plans to include ins and outs of problems and potentials of rural Bangladesh.
“LGD has taken initiatives to expand rural communication, growth center and markets of commodity goods. LGED will also ensure proper sanitation, waste management and water supply in the rural areas,” he added.
“LGD will also establish amusement parks and recreation centers and libraries and community spaces to enable villagers to get enough opportunities of entertainment which is now considered one of the crucial rights of citizens,” he added.
In implementing government pledges, he said, LGD will face several challenges, including financial support for maintenance of rural infrastructures, expansion of roads and highways, construction of communication infrastructures in haor and low lying areas, strengthening death and birth registration activities, modern waste management, utilisation of ICT for simplifying civic services and disposal of pending cases, writs or lawsuits in the courts.
He said LGD will enhance the transference, integrity, skilled and capability of the local government institutions.
He said various specialised projects, including SWAPNO and Jwatno, are helping the ministry to make the poor people self-reliant by involving them in income generating activities.
The official said the government is taking an Upazila Master plan to expedite the income generation activities at the root level.
“Through the master plan, the rural people will get urban facilities which will create income-generating opportunities for youths,” he added.
With a view to attaining the SDGs and alleviating poverty, the official said, the government would further boost the cooperatives at villages and in remote areas in the country.
He said the government has already established digital centers at every union parishad for ensuring low-cost digital services for all people across the country. Through the centers, a total of 112 services are being provided to the grassroots people, he added.
In the last 10 years, he said, the LGD implemented a total of 311 projects at a cost of TK1,92,739.67 crore.
