AN IMPORTANT factor in the liberation war of 1971 was the sharp economic disparity between the then West Pakistan and East Pakistan. The proclamation of the liberation war, therefore, spoke about the desire to establish equality, human dignity and social justice. The country gained independence through the liberation war, but even after 53 years of independence, economic liberation of the people has not been achieved; economic and social inequality has not ended. Because of this, the people of Bangladesh have to take to the streets again and again, the latest example of which is the Students against Discrimination movement, which brought down the long dictatorship of Sheikh Hasina.
One of the reasons the July movement, which began as a protest against discrimination in government jobs, turned into a successful mass uprising was the participation and support of a large number of people from all sections of society who were displeased with discrimination and oppression of all forms. That is why it has been observed that a significant section of the people who died or injured in the movement are members of the working class and lower income groups. One of the most important responsibilities of the post-uprising policymakers is, therefore, to take appropriate initiatives to eliminate extreme inequality and discrimination prevailing in various sectors.
During Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 rule, economic inequality increased to an unprecedented level. Because of this, a large number of people have been discriminated against in terms of basic rights such as quality livelihood, food, housing, education, health care, etc. In the midst of economic crisis and high inflation, while most people have been struggling to meet daily expenses, many have been forced to cut down on consumption, the number of people having more than a million in their bank accounts has increased. According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022 of the Bureau of Statistics, the wealthiest 5 per cent now has a share of 30.04 per cent of the total income while the share of the poorest 5 per cent is only 0.37 per cent of the total income. According to survey, the shares of the richest and poorest 5 per cent in the income were 24.61 per cent and 0.78 per cent respectively. While the share of the richest 5 per cent in the total income has increased significantly, the share of the poorest 5 per cent has halved in 12 years. That is why the Gini co-efficient related to income rose to 0.499 in 2022, up from 0.482 in 2016 and 0.458 in 2010, which indicates high income inequality.
The fact that the wealth of the country has accumulated in the hands of a few wealthy individuals is evident from the data provided by the Credit Suisse Research Institute 鈥� 21 individuals have wealth of more than $500 million or Tk 5,000 crore in the country. This rise of inequality was not natural or inevitable. It happened because of a specific development model and political structure, characterised by regressive taxation, extremely low wages and rampant corruption.
Bangladesh has seen the development of an economic system where the revenue听collected from ordinary people is spent on various infrastructure development and institutional arrangements for industrialists and businesspeople, but in return, appropriate taxes, direct taxes, are not collected from them. Industrialists and businesspeople also do not pay decent wages and get away by not spending enough on workplace safety. Some enjoy various opportunities of looting money from banks and laundering it abroad in the name of import and export. This is how inequality increases as the size of the economy increases.
To build a Bangladesh free of discrimination, this political economic structure needs to be reformed. The government should increase direct tax collection from the rich and reduce dependency on indirect tax which burdens ordinary people and increases inequality. A national minimum wage ensuring a decent living standard should be implemented for the working people. Quality employment should be increased in the formal sector; the informal sector should be brought under the protection of labour laws; and safe working conditions should be ensured for workers. At the same time, the corruption of the elite should be curbed and the corrupt should be punished. The coverage and allocation of social security programmes should be increased to ensure that benefits reach all the poor people. A corruption-free and legally-binding public procurement and distribution system should be introduced through digitisation to ensure fair prices for farmers and the food security of the poor and underprivileged people.
Inequalities in the education and health sectors have increased because of commercialisation and privatisation. As much as there is discussion about textbook content and curriculum, there is very little discussion about inequality in access to quality education. However, because of the high cost of education, it has gradually become beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Most of the secondary and higher secondary schools and colleges are private. So is the case for universities and medical colleges. In other words, if you want to get higher education, you have to be able to spend a lot of money. But this did not happen all by itself, but through specific policies and programmes like Bangladesh Education Policy 2010, 20-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education in Bangladesh: 2006-2026 prepared by the University Grants Commission following the neoliberal prescription of the World Bank which emphasised reducing public expenditure on public universities and raising internal funds of public universities by increasing tuition fees, renting out their establishment, providing consultancy services and introducing evening courses for professional degrees.
As a result of this neoliberalisation and commercialisation, the cost of education has increased. According to the UNESCO 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report, almost two-thirds of the total cost of education have to be borne by households while only a third is covered by governments. This is the fourth highest percentage covered by households in the world, after Haiti, Nigeria and Liberia. As a result, education is getting out of the reach of poor households.
According to data of Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, in 2023, enrolment in primary schools was 98 per cent, but about 32.85 per cent of students dropped out in the secondary level and 21.51 per cent more dropped out in the higher secondary level. Only 20.18 per cent of students got opportunities for higher education. Who can get higher education is mostly determined on the basis of financial resources of the parents, not on the basis of merit. If the poverty of the parents stands as a barrier to the education of the children, the children of poor families will never have the opportunity to improve their economic condition through education; as a result, the economic and social inequality will not be reduced. To build a Bangladesh free of discrimination, it is, therefore, important to ensure the equality of opportunity at all levels of education so that economic condition of the parents does not hinder children鈥檚 education.
In the last few decades, the commercialisation of the health sector has increased, the dependence of people on private hospitals has increased, the share in private expenditure on medical treatment has increased and the tendency of people to go abroad for medical treatment has also increased. There is a huge shortage of trained work force, including physicians and nurses in the health sector.听 According to the World Health Organisation, Bangladesh has a density of only 9.9 physicians, nurses and midwives per 10,000 people, a figure much lower than the global median of 48.6. Moreover, the distribution of the health work force is also discriminatory as they are mostly concentrated to urban areas although most people live in rural areas. According to the Bangladesh health workforce strategy 2023, around three quarters of the physicians and nurses and more than half of the dentists and medical technologists are posted to urban areas.
The ratio of health work force and hospital bed in the private sector is higher than the public sector. The number of hospital beds per 10,000 people is much lower, 9.57, than the WHO target, 18, but that is also concentrated to private hospitals, 5.61, making health care expensive.
As a result of the commercialisation of the healthcare system, healthcare expenses increase and people become destitute in bearing the medical expenses. The people have to pay a staggering 73 per cent of their healthcare expenses out of their own pockets, which pushes 3.7 per cent of people below the poverty line every year.听
To eliminate discrimination in the health sector, government spending in this sector should be increased, corruption should be eliminated, public institutions should be strengthened, disparity between rural and urban areas should be removed, physician-nurse-hospital beds, etc should be increased in the public sector so that millions of people do not have to become destitute every year in seeking treatment in the private sector.
Various administrative and institutional reforms are being debated in Bangladesh. But no reform will be sustainable if the structure of discriminatory economic system remains intact.
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Kallol Mustafa is an engineer and writer who focuses on power, energy, environment and development economics.
