Who will take responsibility for the poor?

Over the last five decades, Bangladesh has seen governments come and go, each promising to position the country as a model of development or as the next rising economic star in the region. Certain governments have, to their credit, achieved notable progress, although in an inconsistent rather than sustained manner. Approximately a decade ago, the World Bank even championed Bangladesh as a poverty reduction success story, an accomplishment attained against steep challenges. Regrettably, the years since the COVID-19 crisis have seen a demoralising retreat from this progress, with a multitude of people joining the ranks of impoverished once again.

A recent report from the Power and Participation Research Centre showed how poverty is tightening its grip across the nation. It found that poverty now affects 27.93 per cent of the population, a significant increase from 18.7 per cent recorded in 2022. Consequently, almost a third of the populace struggles to afford bare essentials. More alarming still is the surge in extreme poverty, which has jumped from 5.6 per cent to 9.35 per cent over the three-year period. Anyone who has lived in Dhaka with their eyes open can see its proof on the streets. A growing number of ragged, hungry faces are now living a rough life on pavements, a sight that was less common before. These scenes on the streets serve as undeniable validation of severity of the crisis.

The main culprit has been the cost of basic goods, which for years have risen faster than wages. Even for those whose earnings have remained stable, inflation has steadily diminished what their money can buy. As a result, countless individuals who were previously just managing have been overwhelmed by escalating expenses. Naturally, the root of poverty in Bangladesh has historically been linked to poor quality work, especially the kind that keeps people busy but never lets them move far enough or fast enough out of hardship. That much has always been true. Yet, for a long time a gradual ascent from poverty was still occurring, until the tide turned in recent years. Which brings us to the question, what did change?

To understand what went wrong, we first need to look back at what has originally gone right. There was a time when government-run social safety nets did a fair job of keeping the poorest afloat. Initiatives targeting the hardcore poor, the elderly, widows and destitute women offered a significant degree of support. However, what worked for a while slowly got tangled in the usual mess of corruption and incompetence. Aid meant for the needy somehow found its way to the pockets of dishonest local representatives and their associates.

Plugging these leaks and ensuring assistance truly reaches its intended recipients is a sure-fire way to steer poverty reduction back on track. The efficacy of this method is demonstrated by precedents in Bangladesh and, most notably, in China, where it served as the cornerstone of the largest poverty alleviation initiative in modern times. There, the poverty rate dropped precipitously from 90 per cent in 1990 to 1.7 per cent in 2019. How did they do it? They threw their full weight behind the mission with unwavering financial commitment and, most importantly, a disciplined focus on precise targeting.

Initially, the Chinese government classified regions and counties across the country as impoverished based on national benchmarks. Subsequently, provincial authorities undertook meticulous surveys to pinpoint every household and individual qualifying for aid, collected detailed information about their living conditions and even went as far as diagnosing the specific reasons behind their poverty. This process led to the creation of a centralised national database in 2014, which catalogued around 88 million citizens living in poverty. In parallel, China instituted governance reforms by making poverty reduction a leading criterion for evaluating the performance of its public officials. There's no reason why Bangladesh can't take a leaf out of that book. Similar to China, Bangladesh could readily implement a system of accountability that obligates local representatives and officials at all tiers to commit to specific, binding targets for reducing poverty.

We cannot assume, however, that alleviating poverty is a responsibility of the government alone. This is an area where the compassion of the wealthy and the middle class can provide a vital supplement to public initiatives. To borrow Kingsley Amis's logic, if one man has ten buns and another has two and a bun must be given up, it is only fair that the man with ten should be the one to give. The urge to give may arise from religious obligation such as Zakat or a shared sense of humanity, but either way, this act can be transformative and thus demands our collective encouragement. In many thriving economies, philanthropy flourishes alongside prosperity. Bangladesh needs to nurture that same spirit and ensure that it channelled in a way that benefits those who need it most.

Most people, by nature, prefer to be in the jobs, and yet there are those trapped in jobs that pay too little or have been forced out of work due to age, illness or disability. These are the most valid claimant for aid. One of the distinct benefits of private philanthropy is its potential to precisely identify these vulnerable people. While broad public safety nets can be vulnerable to exploitation, careful individual donors can often identify and assist those who deserve help most, with far greater discernment. The government can help by enabling this public participation in every possible way. By creating official platforms to disseminate information on vulnerable populations and enhance coordination between different groups, it can make private efforts far more effective.

Lastly, political parties also bear responsibility here. While their leaders remain locked in disputes over political trajectories, they have demonstrated a conspicuous lack of engagement with the economic plight of the populace. The public has every right to demand that these parties present concrete policies to fight poverty. Only if our political leaders and wealthy citizens forge a concerted effort can we prevent poverty from hardening into a permanent fixture of the country.

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