Poverty and Unemployment in 2020, Bangladesh Perspective
Bangladesh has set its sight on becoming a middle-income country by 2021; which is also the year of celebrating the 50th anniversary of its independence. But in reality, it is not an easy task at all. Especially in a country where 2.6 million people are still unemployed & a large number of people are living in extreme poverty. And now, approximately 20 millions of people have lost their job due to COVID 19 pandemic which has further added to the problems of poverty and unemployment. High population growth is the main cause of poverty in Bangladesh. Even with the increasing population, Bangladesh is trying to reduce poverty and making impressive progress. Most importantly, Bangladesh is on the track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of removing poverty by 2030. But the steps taken and implemented before 2020 might be invalid due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
Unemployment stands for
a situation where people are willing and capable of doing a job, but they can't
find any job or expected work. In 2020, the unemployment rate has been increased
due to the pandemic and it’s not getting any better. Because many of the
jobless people who are not familiar with business and entrepreneurship are
trying to start their own businesses. But, it might lead to an even worse
situation as they are most likely to incur losses. Thus, today Bangladesh is
facing a great challenge where many people are passing days idly. Economic
problems, social problems are on the rise because people do not have the
opportunity to get engaged in works or they are incapable of finding a job
according to their qualities. A
developing country depends on economic progress and GDP growth is the focus of
economically powerful countries. About a million Bangladeshi garment workers
have already lost their job because of the shutdown of factories due to the spread
of novel coronavirus. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), at
present, 30 lakh people are unemployed in Bangladesh. Due to COVID19 pandemic, the unemployment rate in Bangladesh is expected to increase by 4.40% from 4.19% by the
end of 2020 (Source: Trading Economics). This will worsen the poverty situation
as poverty and unemployment are closely related.
Some significant
strategies should be taken and perfectly followed to meet the immediate and the urgent community needs so that a reduction in poverty can be seen in Bangladesh
by ensuring full employment by the end of 2020 and certainly it is possible; The the first step would be encouraging and motivating jobless workers so that they
become strong and confident again because many of them are leading a life with
depression. The second step is various online training programs can be held on how
to start a small business online or offline, IT program, designing,
programming, freelancing etc. Thirdly, financial help will encourage jobless
workers to participate in these training programs. Temporary work opportunities
should be created with little salary, thus earnings will be continued and it is
better than being unemployed.
Some other strategies
also should be taken after COVID-19 pandemic when everything will appear normal
in Bangladesh with a view to fighting and lasting in upcoming days. These are:
CREATING MORE JOBS
The best pathway of
removing poverty is creating jobs and well-paid salary. Job creation strategies
must be developed for rebuilding new infrastructure. Jobs must be classified
into various levels so that poor people have access to those jobs. Productive
poor people can handle the jobs and can make the best output for the nation as
well as for them also.
RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE
Sometimes it can be
seen in many places that the workers are not well-paid by the owners. If there
is a minimum wage rate the owners will be more conscious about the wage. There
are some laws about wage. So, rules and regulations also must be maintained.
POPULATION CONTROL
Controlling population
becomes easier if all citizens are provided with the benefits of health, accommodation,
education etc. For a small country, a large number of population is a social
problem. In the rural and urban areas, some programs about family planning must
be held for raising awareness about family planning. If overpopulation
problem is not eradicated by proper planning and program, achieving sustainable
goals will be more complex.
AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT
Growth of the
production of agriculture can change the situation of urban and rural areas.
Financial assistance should be provided to the marginal farmers. Some
infrastructures in the rural areas are not available and thus, farmers do not
have the accessibility to such infrastructure. If assistance in those areas can
be managed and increased, farmers will be benefited.
EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME
Inequality of income
distribution is the cause of poverty in many cases. Poor people are deprived of
getting their right. Equal distribution of income can remove poverty. Rich
class people sometimes may dominate the poor but poor people remain silent
or if they claim anything they are neglected. Adequate wages are very rare in
our country, but actually, if we all try to solve this problem together, equal
distribution of income is possible.
REMOVING DOWRY
It is very common in
our society. Rural area people are used to this term. Sometimes the father has
to sell all his property for the happiness of his daughter. So, it should be
cut down to reduce poverty.
EDUCATION
Proper education can
change a nation while an illiterate person is a burden for a nation. When a
person is properly educated he or she knows how education is essential for
everyday life. They can take part in the nation. Finding a job or creating a business or becoming an entrepreneur will be easier for them.
Some reasons for unemployment
are lack of training, leadership mindsets, infrastructure, fear of becoming an
entrepreneur, high-interest rates etc.
THE SOLUTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT
Encouraging to be an
entrepreneur: Most of the people of Bangladesh or it can be said that many people
don't make their own decisions, they're following the way which everyone
follows. Spreading awareness should be raised.
Lower interest rate: An
entrepreneur needs funds which are provided by many commercial banks, NGOs,
financial institutions etc. and for collecting funds, banks set a rate of
interest against an amount of money. If the rate is high, entrepreneurs can't
take loans. As a result, the commencement of new businesses will be stopped which
may impact on the economy and economic circle can be damaged. So, a new monetary
policy or fiscal policy should be adopted or changed by thinking about the whole
nation.
Diverse Fields. The only job is not the solution. People think that in diverse fields, there is no
security. It is the reason for their narrow thoughts and knowledge.
Designing clothes,
after making fashionable dresses, it will be easy to earning profit by
marketing;
Hand made things are
demandable product such as "Nakshi Katha". Now educated persons are
also launching soil made things. These look very much fascinating and are
demanded by foreigners.
By exporting product
made by jute or exporting fish, a businessman can easily make revenue. Risk-taker person prefer this business;
Some say "zero to
hero", how is it possible? Such as someone had nothing to do, even
sometimes no qualifications, they make their own decisions come true.
Not only a citizen but
an asset: A nation should be freed from the doubt about a citizen is not the only
citizen, he or she is an asset also. Human Asset is mandatory for the ultimate
progression of a county. With technical learning, they should be experienced
the knowledge practically. China, Japan are now developed country because their
emphasis was on developing human. If it is adopted in developing counties like
ours, the unemployment problem can be eradicated easily.
Leadership Mindsets:
One of the most important things is leadership ability. We can not say always
that they have the ability but do not find a job, the problem is the shortage of sufficient
skills. There are many sectors to prove ourselves as a leader and engaging in various extracurricular activities. Even also can be a good entrepreneur or
businessman.
Government Policy:
Government is attempting to arrive at a solution for unemployment. Without
government assistance, the solution will remain unchanged. In Bangladesh, the government providing many facilities (Free training, training with less money, free workshop-seminar). Sometimes policy generates restrictions. High-interest rate makes the entrepreneur hopeless. When citizens receive adequate facilities,
they will be an asset for the whole nation and GDP, GNP, NNP, NDP will be higher.
UNDP's Strategic plan
(2018 to 2021) has been designed for three purposes. One of the purposes is
removing poverty. Bangladesh should create better jobs for the 2 million youth
and remove the barriers of complex business rules and regulations, high
transportation infrastructure, lack of land, high-interest rate, the complexity of
getting a loan, natural disaster etc. Rural development program must be
integrated. Finally, I would say that Bangladesh will be more powerful,
economically stable and developed by creating employment opportunity and proper
decision-making program.
Sabrin Sultana
Session: 2017-18
Department of Banking & Insurance
