REGIONAL DISPARITY IN NORTH- WEST BANGLADESH: CONCERN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Transcription

1 JBR Journal of Business Research C 2015 Journal of Business Research Vol. 1 No. 1, December Faculty of Business Studies Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, Bangladesh [ISSN ] REGIONAL DISPARITY IN NORTH- WEST BANGLADESH: CONCERN FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ABSTRACT Dr. Md. Morshed Hossain 1 Dr. Md. Motiur Rahman 2 Sustainable development is a multidimensional concept. Sustainability can be defined as the practice of reserving resources for future generation without any harm to the nature and other components of it. Therefore, the present study has analyzed sustainable development status and regional disparities of North- West in Bangladesh and focused various issues. Among all the divisions the poverty rate is highest (46.2%) in Rangpur division. Using the upper poverty line, at the national level recorded the Poverty Gap (PG) at 6.5% in The same was highest for Rangpur division at 11.0% in The Squared Poverty Gap (SGP) measures the severity of poverty. Using the upper poverty line, at the national level has recorded the lowest SPG which was 1.3% in The same was highest for Rangpur division 3.5%. In survey 86% of the households in North- West Zone are not able to purchase or produce enough food for an acceptable Food Consumption Score. Monthly household nominal income and expenditure are lowest in Rangpur division. To achieve of the specific targets for reducing regional disparities will require well thought out strategies and policies to ensure that the growth process is inclusive and that the human development and other poverty reduction policies are sensitive to the needs of the North West region Keywords: Sustainable Development, Regional Disparity and North- West Bangladesh 1. Professor, Department of Economics, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, E- mail: morshed122009@yahoo.com 2. Professor, Department of Management Studies, Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur, E- mail: palash_brur@yahoo.com

2 2 Journal of Business Research Introduction Sustainable development is a multidimensional concept. Its interpretation and understanding is often content and context specific. This concept has emerged as a broad framework to debate and decide on desirable direction of change in social and economic systems, policies, programmes and actions at the national, community or individual levels. Sustainable development is the process of socioeconomic development while keeping within the limits of the earth s carrying capacity. The concept of sustainable development is increasingly becoming important in Bangladesh. Sustainability can be defined as the practice of reserving resources for future generation without any harm to the nature and other components of it. Sustainable development ties together concern for the carrying capacity of natural systems with the social, political, and economic challenges faced by humanity. ( Indicators perform many functions. They can lead to better decisions and more effective actions by simplifying, clarifying and making aggregated information available to policy makers. The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 recognized the important role that indicators could play in helping countries make informed decisions concerning sustainable development. At the international level, the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) approved its Work Programme on Indicators of Sustainable Development in The first two sets of CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development (henceforth CSD indicators) were developed between 1994 and They have been extensively tested, applied and used in many countries as the basis for the development of national indicators of sustainable development (UN 2007). The revised edition of the CSD indicators has been developed in response to decisions by the CSD and the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, which encouraged further work on indicators at the country level in line with national conditions and priorities and invited the international community to support efforts of developing countries in this regard. The CSD indicator themes were poverty, governance, health, education, demographics, natural hazards, atmosphere, land, Ocean, seas and coasts, freshwater, biodiversity, economic development, global economic partnership and consumption patterns. Since the publication of the previous set, knowledge of and experience with sustainable development indicators of countries and organizations has increased significantly, as has the emphasis on measuring progress on achieving sustainable development, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), at the national and the international levels. In September 2000, the 189 member countries of the United Nations at that time adopted eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), committing themselves

3 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development 3 to making substantial progress toward the eradication of poverty and achieving other human development goals by The Millennium Development Goals Indicators consist of 48 indicators linked to the eight goals derived from the United Nations Millennium Declaration. However, the revised MDG monitoring framework presented by the Secretary- General of the United Nations in 2007 contains 58 indicators, as four new targets have been included to reflect commitments made at the 2005 World Summit. Like the CSD Indicators of Sustainable Development, the MDG Indicators were developed through a collaborative process involving various Departments within the United Nations Secretariat, a number of specialized agencies from within the United Nations system as well as external international organizations, various government agencies and national statisticians. Also like the CSD indicators, the MDG Indicators are driven by policy relevance, rooted in major intergovernmental development summits and frequently applied at the national level. Because of these similarities, there may have been some confusion on the part of policy-makers and practitioners on the relationship between the two sets and on the need of having two indicator sets. The MDGs are the strongest statement yet of the international commitment to ending global poverty. Eradication of extreme poverty, universal primary education, gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, maternal health, combat AIDS, environmental sustainability and global partnership. By incorporating these developments, the revision of the CSD indicators gives vital support to countries in their efforts to develop and implement national indicators for sustainable development. The Intergovernmental Negotiations on the Post 2015 Development Agenda (IGN) began in January 2015 and ended in August Following the negotiations, a final document was adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit September 25 27, 2015 in New York, USA. The title of the agenda is Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Set of 17 SDGs will become applicable from January The expected deadline for the SDGS is Sustainable Development Goals are related with end poverty, achieve food security, ensure healthy lives, inclusive and equitable quality education, achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, water and sanitation for all, modern energy for all, productive employment and decent work for all, industrialization, reduce inequality, make cities and human settlement, ensure sustainable consumption, combat climate change and combat desertification inclusive institutions for all levels. Sustainable development can be defined in technical terms as a development path along which the maximization of human well- being for today s generations does not lead to declines in future well- being (UN Website). Bangladesh with the population of million and the land area of square km, extending 820 km north to south and 600 km east to west. It is bordered mostly by India, and the southern part of Bangladesh faces the Bay of

4 4 Journal of Business Research Bengal. The country is divided into 7 administrative divisions, and these divisions are further divided into 64 districts. Rangpur Division was formed on 25 January 2010, as Bangladesh s 7th division. Rangpur is the northernmost division of Bangladesh and has a population of at the 2011 Population and Housing Census. The total area of Rangpur Division is 16,185sq.km. Rangpur (BBS 2014). Division consists of eight districts- Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, and Gaibandha. This region is mainly characterized by agro-based economy and poverty-ridden with surplus low-cost labour. Northwest region is considered to be the most neglected and deprived region of the country, excluded from mainstream development. This northwest region is mainly characterized by agro-based economy and poverty-ridden with surplus low cost labour. In before some parts of this region are affected by monga with no job and no purchasing power during some time in the year. This means that there are many unemployed people and/or labour directly and indirectly and it becomes difficult for them to maintain livelihood during off peak times in a year. This labour force can be utilized in other sectors like industry with appropriate training. Many people migrate to Dhaka, Rajshahi and other cities to maintain their livelihood. Therefore, the present study has analyzed sustainable development of north- west zone in Bangladesh and focused various issues. Analyze the nature, extent and trends in growth, poverty and income in Bangladesh. Document and examine relationship between economic growth, development, income and poverty in Bangladesh provide some policy suggestions to foster growth, development, income and reduce poverty in Bangladesh to achieve sustainable development. LITERATURE REVIEW There are few studies which have focused the issue of regional disparities concern for sustainable development. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also called Global Goals, and Agenda 2030 are an inter-governmentally agreed set of targets relating to international development. They will follow on from the Millennium Development Goals once those expire at the end of he Background Study Paper for Preparation of the Seventh Five-Year Plan (Khondker & Mahzab, 2015 ) on Lagging Districts Development Bangladesh, the culture and history that it exhibits, gives a picture of a homogenous nation in many aspects. However, when we look deep into the development of the country, historically it can be seen that there is a gap within the country when it comes to socio-economic prosperity. Regional disparity within Bangladesh has now been a

5 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development 5 well established fact in the economic discourse. Specially the term East-West divide, which has been coined in the early years of this century, points out the gap of progress between the eastern districts to that of western districts of Bangladesh. The river Jamuna is thought to divide the country s two distinctive districts, where the East is thought to be the more progressive region, which includes the Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions. On the other hand, the less progressive West constitutes the Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna and Barisal divisions. Zohir (2011) states that the issue of regional differences was overshadowed by geographical targeting of the poor and more recent focus on Monga- affected people in the north- west. Thus, pockets of high ecological vulnerability (including river erosion) and higher incidence of poverty were identified- largely following exercises based on Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) data; and fine- tuned further with small area poverty mapping under the initiative of the World Food Programme (WFP). CPD (2008) conclude that there are centre- periphery aspect of regional disparity (disparity between Dhaka, the centre and other districts, the peripheries) rather than the east- west divide. This required an emphasis on development of areas where poor people are concentrated rather than looking at the relevant issues at divisional level. This was also particularly because divisions are not homogeneous and there is heterogeneity in terms of poverty and level of development even within each of the districts. Afser Rita (2010) states that weak governance as a result of clientelist practice is often considered as the single- most important factor behind the growing inequality and persistent poverty in Bangladesh. Using rights- based approach (RBA), this article examines regional disparity, central- local relations and the scope for peoples participation under the existing rules and practices. Mujeri (2010) argues that significance disparity exists in literacy rate between rural and urban areas, between females and males and among different administrative divisions of the country. Similarly, geographical disparity exists in access to and participation in primary education. Chowdhury and Osmani (2010) show that comparison of per capita public spending on health expenditure across districts reveals a mixed picture of horizontal equity. The overall distribution happens to be biased against the poorer districts in that the richer districts have traditionally enjoined a higher per capita spending than the poor ones. Sen and Ali (2005) tracks spatial inequality in social progress in Bangladesh as evidence from the district- level data. It uses a multivariate framework to explore the differential pace of social progress at the spatial level. The paper concludes

6 6 Journal of Business Research that the extent of spatial inequality in social development has decreased over the second half of the nineties although the overall level of inequality remains considerable. Policy implications are drawn for attacking spatial chronic poverty. Titumir and Rahman (2011) states that there is no denial that geography, culture and politics have been historically intertwined to result in differences across region. Therefore, a different result is also found in case of the incidence of poverty according to the division. Gafaru Abdulai (2014) argues that prospects for overcoming spatial inequalities in the clientelist-driven political environments of developing countries depend substantially on the ways in which elites from lagging regions are incorporated into ruling coalition s, and how such forms of incorporation shape their influence over resource allocation decisions and policy agenda more broadly. Zaman, Narayan and Kotikula (2012) states that narrowing the economic gap between the growing and lagging regions of the country would require interventions to improve endowments and returns to the endowments in the lagging parts of the country. To raise returns to endowments, improving the investment climate for non-farm enterprises in lagging regions would be crucial. A recently published report by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), (Sen, Ahmed, Ali, & Yunus, 2014) looked into the factors behind the recent decline of the regional inequality know as East-West divide. This paper tried to capture the persistent regional disparity and the trend of it, and if there is a decline, how quantitatively and econometrically can those be measured. There are number of reasons came out in the paper for the decline of the inequality gap between the east and west region of Bangladesh. So, sustainable development is conceived to be anchored on three pillars, which are to evolve concomitantly on sustainable factors, namely, economic, social and environmental; and to be centred on the human being, implying that the process of sustainable development is necessarily inclusive and should promote unity in cultural and other forms of diversity. But it is essential, in the context of establishing this unity, that diverse cultures, interests and wishes, particularly of the downtrodden and disadvantaged groups, are facilitated to flourish and find proper expressions in appropriate forms. Sustainable development also invokes intra- and intergenerational equity, i.e. equity among within nations at the present time and the management of natural and other resources such that while the present generation meets its needs, the future generations can meet theirs too. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY The broad objective of this paper is to analyze the nature, extent and trends in sustainable development and regional disparity in North- West region in Bangladesh and to some policy suggestions for sustainable development.

7 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development 7 Prime objectives of the study include: i. to identify present status of indicators of sustainable development in the region; ii. to identify present status of regional disparity in the region; iii. to identify the causes of socio -economical backwardness of North-West Bangladesh; iv. to provide some policy suggestions for achieve indicators of sustainable development and reducing disparities in North- West region in Bangladesh. METHODOLOGY In this study analysis has been carried out in two phases. In the first phase, analysis has been carried out on the basis of available secondary literature and data. Important sources include statistical information collected from the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, BSS (2000, 2005 and 2010), multiple years of the Sample Vital Registration System between 2000 and 2010, and Journal etc. The World Wide Web (www) will be an important source of data collection. The second phase, primary survey has been carried out to gather information on description of sample, impact on food security. Details of the survey presented below: Selection of Study Areas This study is largely based on a questionnaire survey which conducted households of five areas in North- West zone: Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Nilphamary, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts. These areas were selected on the basis of highest poverty prone area. Sampling of Respondents and Sample Size In this study, a purposive sampling was conducted in the absence of documentation and a database of the study population. Sample sizes were 300, comprising rural and urban. Conducting the Survey As part of an effort to generate more representative quantitative data, information from 300 HHs in the five study villages was systematically gathered with the help of a questionnaire survey. The main indicators covered in the questionnaire survey include the socio-economic status of the HHs, land availability and utilization,, major livelihoods and income, aspects of food security, food consumption, and their influence towards maintaining food security. The collected data was entered into and analyzed with the help of SPSS software. FINDINGS Poverty Situation In a recent report by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Bank, the district level poverty mapping has

8 8 Journal of Business Research been updated for the latest available year of the household budget survey. The following table identifies the fifteen districts with highest rates of head count poverty measured in terms of the upper poverty line. This has been done by using small area estimation technique. The poverty mapping has been calculated using the income-consumption data of Household Income Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2010 and population data of Census According to the estimate half of the districts have poverty rates greater than the national average of 31.4% suggesting a high degree of disparity among districts in terms of poverty measures (i.e. as many as 32 districts out 64 districts have higher poverty rate than that of the national poverty rate). Table- 1: Head Count Poverty Rate by Districts District Poverty rate % (Upper Rank poverty line) Kurigram Barisal Shariatpur Jamalpur Chandpur Mymensingh Sherpur Gaibandha Satkhira Rangpur Magura Pirojpur Bagerhat Gopalgonj Rajbari Source: Bangladesh Poverty Assessment 2013, World Bank Bangladesh has been successful in achieving significant reduction in poverty since But the commendable performance in terms of poverty reduction at the national level has not been equally shared among its different components at the sub national level. This is evident that the pace of poverty reduction differed among different divisions. Although higher poverty incidence has been found in the districts of Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions, there are also districts from the east region which has poverty rate higher than the national level. An important observations is that the three CHT districts - with high degree deprivations in other indicators - did not make the above list with relatively moderate of poverty rates. Further investigation with other data sources may suggest that poverty rate could have been higher than what is reported in the WFP/WB report.

9 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development 9 An important objective of the Government is to ensure that poverty progress happens throughout the country so that no region/district is left behind. This also has important implications for income inequality. Data from HIES show that progress with poverty reduction by regions has been uneven. The Eastern regions of Bangladesh (Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet Divisions) tend to have lower incidence of poverty than the Western regions (Khulna, Barisal and Rajshahi). A comparison between 2000 and 2005 would reveal that poverty in Eastern divisions declined at a faster rate than the Western divisions. A combination of factors contributed to this divergence. Among these, the important factors were the relative lack of remittance income, inadequate public infrastructure like electricity and access roads to markets, and deficiencies in assets and endowments among households in the West relative to their counterparts in the East. Table 2. Incidence of Poverty (Head Count Rate, using upper poverty line) by Divisions, to 2010 Poverty Map National Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Source: BBS, HIES Reports ( , 2000, 2005 and 2010), Bangladesh Poverty Assessment 2013, World Bank From Table-2., the estimate of HCR of poverty by divisions using the upper poverty line in 2010 reveal that Rangpur division has the highest incidence of poverty (HCR) at 46.2 percent, followed by Barisal division 39.4 percent and Khulna division 32.1 percent. On the other hand, Chittagong division has the lowest HCR of incidence of poverty at 26.2 percent followed by Sylhet division at 28.1 percent and Rajshahi division at 29.8 percent. Between 2005 and 2000, the poverty head count rates fell less rapidly for the divisions of Barisal, Khulna and Rajshahi and in some categories, these rates even increased. This is in sharp contrast to the case of other three divisions, namely, Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet, which have experienced faster poverty reduction. Among all the divisions the poverty rate is highest (46.2 percent) in Rangpur division. The trend in poverty reduction rates between 2005 and 2010 suggests that regional disparity observed in previous household surveys with respect to head count poverty has narrowed significantly.

10 10 Journal of Business Research A conventional way to measure poverty is to establish a poverty line, defined as the threshold level of income needed to satisfy basic minimum food and nonfood requirements and determine the number of households (People) below that line as a percent of the total households (Population). This Head- count Index (HDI) is a measure of the incidence of poverty. This measure is easily understood by general public and hence is popular with policy makers and development practitioners. The limitation of the measure is that it is insensitive to change in the level and distribution of income among the poor. The other measures of poverty commonly used to take into account the distribution issue are a) the Poverty Gap Index and b) the Squired Poverty Gap Index. The Poverty Gap Index measures the average (of poor and non- poor households) of the percent of income gap of the poor households from the poverty line, and is used as a measure of intensity of poverty. It measures the percent of total income needed to be transferred from the non- poor to poor households to lift the poor above the poverty line. However, if the society is averse to inequality in the distribution of income among the poor, the poverty measure must be sensitive to income transfers from the moderate to the extreme poor. It means that higher priority must be given to the improvement in the economic conditions of the extreme poor compared to the moderate poor. The Squared Poverty Gap Index satisfies this condition, and is used as a measure of the severity of poverty. Poverty situation at the national and regional level is reported in Table- 3. Poverty Gap and Squared Poverty Gap by seven administrative divisions are presented in this Table. Table 3 : Poverty Gap and Squared Poverty Gap by Divisions Poverty Gap in percent Squared Poverty Gap in (using upper poverty percent line) (using upper poverty line) Poverty Line and Division National Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Source: BBS, HIES (2010) The Poverty Gap (PG) estimates the depth of poverty of the population. The HCR of poverty gives only the percentage value of poverty incidence, but it does not measure the distance of the poor households from the poverty line. Using the upper poverty line, at the national level recorded the PG at 6.5 percent in The same was highest for Rangpur division at 11.0 percent in 2010.

11 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development 11 The Squared Poverty Gap (SGP) measures the severity of poverty. Using the upper poverty line, at the national level has recorded the lowest SPG which was 1.3 percent in The same was highest for Rangpur division 3.5 percent. Food Security Food security is primarily met in North West Zone through production or by means of purchasing from the market. Food security in most cases is understood as cereal or even rice security, where availability and access are generally key determinants. The poor and lower middle class struggle to meet food security, if not year round certainly during the seasonal monga phenomenon. People in the North West Zone mainly consume rice, vegetables and fish curry. The poor and the extremely poor classes cannot afford to eat fish, even if they can catch some from the river. The pricey commodity is sold immediately to purchase a few other things. The middle and upper classes can, however, afford fish, and the upper class consumes it almost regularly. The lower-middle class can seldom purchase and enjoy fish unless they can catch it themselves. Rice, fish curry and vegetables are also the most common items that people purchase from the market. In addition, they commonly buy salt, edible oil, pulses, spices, etc. Most of the adults in the responding HHs, irrespective of their dominant occupation and caste, consume about three meals a day in a no-stress situation. However, it is quite common for them to face seasonal food insecurity and they are forced to skip a meal or two during Monga in September/October. One of the important findings is that the nutritional conditions have deteriorated for more and more people, in particular for the poor and the extremely poor. They are highly food insecure in the lean season. Moreover, they also cannot afford pricy higher value food items even when those are available in the local market. The women representing such HHs are the worst sufferers. By the age of 35, they become vulnerable to diseases, and are stranded with almost no nutritional intake to fight diseases. Even if they grow fruits and vegetables in their courtyard, they often do not consume them, but rather sell them in the market to earn some extra money. With an increasing food demand against decreasing landholdings, farmers are finding it difficult to maintain food security from their own production, despite the introduction of HYVs and subsequent good harvests. The situation can become worse if suddenly occurring hazards destroy (parts of) the potential harvest. Moreover, farmers often do not get a fair price for their harvest although the prices for commodities and agricultural inputs are increasing. In such cases, the poor and the extremely poor producers suffer the most.

12 12 Journal of Business Research Table 4. Food Consumption Score (FCS) Status Households No. % Poor Food Consumption (0-28) 24 8 Borderline Food Consumption (28-42) Acceptable (>42) Total Source: Field Survey From Table 4, 86% of the households (Poor Food Consumption and Borderline Food Consumption) surveyed in North- West Zone are not able to purchase or produce enough food for an acceptable Food Consumption Score. North- West Zone also has the largest percent of households with a poor FCS indicating an inability to meet basic food security needs. The high rate of poor FCS also suggests pockets of extreme vulnerability in North- West zone. Only 14% households are achieving high acceptable FCS. About 37% of households cannot have 3 full meals a day and 53% household have 3 meals with difficulty, only 10% take 3 meals without difficulty for a number of months every year. Like other developing countries, Bangladesh may have a significant proportion of its population classified as food insecure (Table-5). Table 5. Consumption of Food Number of Households when experiences food shortage or difficult Households No. % Mostly 1 meal/ day Mostly 2 meals/ day Some difficulty, but 3 meals meals a day, no difficulty Total Source: Field Survey Demography and Health Two important health indicators such as infant mortality rate (IMR) and under five mortality rate (U5MR) have been estimated for 64 districts based on latest available data. Moderate to high disparities have been observed between the top 15 districts and the bottom 15 districts. More specifically, the IMR for top 15 districts was 29 (per 1000 live births) compared to 47 (per 1000 live births) for bottom 15 districts. IMR for Bangladesh was 36 (per 1000 live births). Even higher disparity has been observed for U5MR between the bottom 15 districts and the top 15 districts. More specifically, the U5MR for top 15 districts was 49 (per 1000 live births) compared to 83 (per 1000 live births) for bottom 15 districts. IMR for Bangladesh was 64 (per 1000 live births). Infant Mortality Rate for Rangpur Division was (per 1000 live births), ranking among districts in Bangladesh 2nd position in Under five mortality rate of Rangpur Division was 81(per 1000 live births) and ranking position was 8.

13 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development 13 Education In the past few years, Bangladesh has achieved substantial amount of progress in education. The literacy rate has increased by 6 percentage points to 57.9 % in 2010 from The enrollment rate in primary education is % and the ratio is higher in favour of girls in both urban and rural areas. However, there is serious persistence of spatial differences in the achievement of education when it comes to literacy rate. The range in literacy rate among the 64 districts is 35.5 and the standard deviation is almost 8, suggesting high level of disparity among the districts. The following table will shed light on the districts which are under achiever of education in Bangladesh. Other two indicators used to assess district level deprivation in education are number of primary and secondary schools. Education develops human skill for providing quality services to the community. Education is also termed as a human capital and it makes people fit for professional jobs. Education is recognized as one of the basic human needs. It has direct bearing to overall welfare of individuals as well as households and society. Although a significant change in terms of primary education is found across income groups, considerable disparity linked with economic background is observed in secondary education enrollment. Poor people are mostly absent at the tertiary education level. In Bangladesh children in the rural areas are lagging behind significantly in terms of getting quality education. Table- 6: Literacy Rate (7 years and over) by Gender and Administrative Division (Percent) Division National Male Female (Both Sexes) National Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Source: BBS, HIES (2010) The divisional level literacy rates have been provided in Table-6. At the aggregate level, the highest literacy rate percent is observed in Chittagong division and the lowest of percent in Rangpur division.

14 14 Journal of Business Research Drinking Water Table 7 provides the distribution of households by sources of drinking water in At the national level, 85.37% used tube well water, % used supply water and the rest 4.01% used others sources of water, such as, ponds/rivers/canals/well etc. Use of the supply water was reported to the highest households in Dhaka division and lowest in the Rangpur division only Table- 7: Source of Drinking Water National Supply Tube- Pond/river Well/ Water Others water well / Canal Indra falls Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Source: BBS, HIES (2010) Energy: Gas Connectivity Availability of energy plays a critically important role in helping develop regional economics. Due to the primacy of Dhaka and Chittagong, the availability of electricity has been more pronounced in the eastern districts than in the western and southern districts. Similarly, there are substantial differences in terms of availability of natural gas. Large areas of northern and the southern parts of the country still do not have natural gas coverage. Industrialization Table-8: Grouping of Division by Gas Connectivity Division Gas Connectivity Dhaka 1968 Sylhet 1977 Rajshahi 1999 Khulna - Chittagong 1976 Barisal - Rangpur - Source: Zohir (2011) Table 9 provides information on total establishments; total persons engaged (TPE) and average size of establishments by division. The table discloses that in

15 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development , out of 7 Divisions, Dhaka contains 25,41,033 establishments which is the highest in Bangladesh. It is followed by Chittagong with 13,27,629, Rajshahi with 11,60,669, Rangpur with 10,22, 040 establishments and so on. Figures explain that TPE as well as average size of establishments have been increased considerably over the two census periods. According to Census 2013, Dhaka division has got the highest average size of establishments with 3.70 followed by Chittagong with 3.49, Rajshahi with 2.93, Barisal with 2.84, Sylhet with 2.56, Khulna with 2.51 and lowest Rangpur with Table- 9: Establishments and Total Persons Engaged (TPE) by Sex and Average Size of Establishments by Division, 2013 Division Total Total Persons Engaged Average Establishment Total Male Female size of Establis hment Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet National Source: Economic Census 2013, BBS Table-10. Number of Manufacturing Establishments by Type of Machinery Used and by Division, 2013 Division Total Establishme nts Powered Operated Fuel Operated Both Power and Fuel Hand Operated Not Applic able Operated Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet National Source: Economic Census 2013, BBS Figures in Table 10 expose the scenario of the type of machinery used in manufacturing establishments by Division. It appears that out of total (8,68,244) manufacturing establishments, the highest portion, 57.82% (5,02,035) are operated by hand followed by power with 23.85% (2,07,099), fuel with 4.43%

16 16 Journal of Business Research (38,488) and both power and fuel with 1.78% (15,430), the lowest among the categories. It is important to note that some establishments, 1,05,192 do not require any kind of machinery for manufacturing. Among the Divisions, Dhaka holds the highest position both in power-operated and in fuel-operated establishments with 91,584 and 12,008 respectively while Barisal ranks the lowest with 5,958 and 1,695 establishments respectively. Both power and fuel-operated establishments are appeared as the largest in Dhaka with 6,705 while they are the lowest in Sylhet with 530 establishments; and in case of hand-operated, the highest number of establishments, 1,25,142 are found in Chittagong and the lowest 20,258 in Sylhet. Reduce inequality The highest average monthly household nominal income was recorded at Tk for Chittagong Division followed by Dhaka Division at Tk and Sylhet Division at and all of these exceeded the national average of Tk in The four Divisions, which recorded monthly household income below the national average, were Barisal Division at Tk. 9158, Khulna Division at Tk and Rajshahi Division at Tk and Rangpur Division 8359 (Table- 11). Table 11: Monthly Household Nominal Incomes and Consumption Expenditures by Divisions Division Income (Taka) Consumption Expenditure (Taka) National Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Source: BBS. HIES (2010) Access to Electricity, Telephone, Mobile phone and Computer Percent of households with electricity connection have been used to assess the status of infrastructure across the district of Bangladesh. Distribution of households with access to electricity, telephone, mobile phone, and computer is presented in Table-12. It is observed that, in 2010, 55.26% households reported to have access to electricity at the national level, 63.4% access to mobile phone.

17 Regional Disparity in North- West Bangladesh: Concern for Sustainable Development % access to telephone and 3.01% access to computer. But in Rangpur Division only 30.07% access to electricity, 41.59% access to mobile phone, 1.25% access to telephone and 0.70% access to computer. Table-12: Percentage of Households Having Electricity and Other Facilities by Administrative Divisions Division Electricity Mobile Telephone Computer phone National Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Source: BBS, HIES (2010) SUGGESTED POLICY RECOMMENDATION A separate fund would have to be kept in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) for development of North- West region in Bangladesh to reduce regional disparity. The additional fund is expected to be some reasonable percentage of overall ADP expenditure but this would be in addition to the other regular ADP components. Take special poverty alleviation programme in North- West Bangladesh. Take special project for poorer household of North- West zone to able Acceptable Food Security Score. Establish of new government university, private university, colleges including Medical, Law and Technical Institutes, Training Institution, schools and increase literacy rate. Expansion of gas and electricity network in the North- West region in priority basis since development of manufacturing sector demands access to electricity supply. Establish of power plant project utilizing coal resource.

18 18 Journal of Business Research For industrialization in North- West region increase total establishment and total person engaged Rangpur Division. North- West region would get priority while setting up special economic zones. Such zones should be established in North- West region with all adequate infrastructural facilities so that entrepreneurs can get benefit from economies of scale. Support ICT initiatives to expand services in the North- West region (Incubation Centre, ICT Research & Development centre, Broadband connectivity, Hi- tech Park etc.). Take necessary steps increase monthly nominal income by job creation through growth and structural changes. CONCLUSION Policy should initiative to address achievement of SDGs gap would be to establish a separate fund in the framework of the annual development program for supporting the development of the North West region. In addition, emphasis should be given to projects that address regional inequalities in the selection of projects. There are many dimensions of inequality- some with more invidious effects that others- and many ways to measure these inequalities. One thing is certain, however: sustainable development cannot be achieved while ignoring regional disparities. REFERENCES Afsar Rita (2010), Poverty, Inequality and the Challenges of Pro- Poor Governance in Bangladesh, Journal of South Asian Development, SAGE Publication. BBS (2015), Economic Census 2013, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka. BBS (2014), Statistical Yearbook Bangladesh 2014, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka. BBS (2010), Report of Bangladesh Household Income & Expenditure Survey- 2010, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning, Dhaka. Chowdhury and Osmani (2010), Towards Achieving the Right to Health: The Case of Bangladesh, The Bangladesh Development Studies, The Bangladesh institute of Development Studies, Vol XXXIII, No. 1& 2.

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