Nearly 80 percent of households of plainland ethnic minority communities have no access to credit, be it formal or informal sources, as per a new study made public yesterday.
Over 80 percent of the households are afflicted by poverty. In contrast, the national average for rural areas was 20.5 percent in 2022.
Moreover, the average monthly per capita income per member of the households is about Tk 1,600. The national average for rural areas was Tk 6,091 in 2022.
On top of it, there is hardly any household with formal land entitlements or ownership.
The study was published in Bangladesh Poverty Watch Report 2023 which was jointly prepared by the non-profit Institute for Inclusive Finance and Development (InM) and think-tank Center for Inclusive Development Dialogue (CIDD).
The report was launched through a ceremony at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) in Dhaka.
“Although non-government organisations and microfinance institutions have wide coverage of their activities in the plains, very few of the plainland ethnic communities have so far been included in their programmes,” said the report.
“It happens due to constraints operating both on demand and supply sides,” it added.
The study was based on responses from 300 people, comprising members of plainland ethnic and river gypsy (bede) communities and sex workers, availed from June to September last year.
There are over 30 ethnic groups living and working in the country’s tea plantations, where living conditions are generally unsatisfactory, and they face specific forms of discrimination, said the report.
River gypsy communities encounter extreme vulnerabilities in social, economic and political spheres, all manifesting from poverty, substandard living conditions and a lack of access to education, it said.
They are often subjected to human rights violations, primarily due to discrimination and racial violence, it added.
Sex workers find it extremely difficult to access their fundamental rights, such as living in constant fear of eviction and sex trafficking and having little to no access to the law and social practices, healthcare and alternative employment opportunities, said the report.
“In terms of inclusive growth, without addressing these vulnerable groups, Bangladesh would not be a ‘Smart Bangladesh’,” said Mustafa Kamal Mujeri, executive director of the InM.
“These underprivileged communities deserve intensive care from the government as well as from the private sector,” he said.
This will not be possible sitting back in capital Dhaka and the authorities will have to go out to their roots and identify their problems, he suggested.
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of the InM, said there are ample government policies to address the challenges faced by the vulnerable groups.
“But there is a lack of coordination and a tendency to ignore the policies,” he said.
“The poverty rate has reduced but it did not come about for the low-income groups,” he said.
Acknowledging the income disparity, MA Mannan, chairman of a planning ministry standing committee, said, “We have to take action to reduce it.”
He also underscored the need to reduce unnecessary spending and to focus on projects which would bring substantial returns for the country.
Syed Nuruddin Ahmed, managing trustee of the CIDD, and Farhana Nargis, research fellow of the InM, also spoke.