Per capita income growth only benefits the rich while the poor always remain left behind almost empty handed, said a report published in a national daily on Saturday. Bangladesh’s per capita income has grown to $2,227 in FY 21 showing it jumped over $200 per person. But the truth is that Covid-19 has left almost the entire nation impoverished while the poor have no job, food or cash to survive. They even don’t know that the national income has gone up so much last year and that their total annual earnings stood at a disbelievingly high figure. Statistically the country is quoted as possessing huge wealth but the reality is that over 6.85 crore people, as per a study report,
are living on $2 daily income.
The report has however rightly pointed out that the per capita income rise has only benefited a few rich people while almost the entire population is being wrongly calculated as beneficiary of the annual income growth. In our view it is totally misleading to show the world that the country has achieved overnight growth deserving graduation to a developing nation status soon. The poor however remained in total darkness and nowhere closer to a high per capita income figure.
Plundering public money freely must also be a factor for per spits income. Huge money spending slow going mega projects also contributed to the rise per capita income.
We cannot say that such artificial per capita income is the result of economic growth. Real economic growth helps everybody. Though there may not be equitable distribution of the benefit.
Here the government is exporting jobless poor as human trade. Our economy is dependent on money sent by repatriate workers who are treated as slaves without dignity to say they are from Bangladesh. The government must show capacity to create jobs and reduce abject poverty.
Corruption based per capita income is nothing to brag about. With the protected corruption some penniless government supporters have become so rich that they do not feel safe to keep the money in the country. Some of them bought castles abroad. But that is prosperity of the corrupt ones, not the country’s.
Any honest and efficient government could do real good to the country over the years. There is nothing the present government can do to improve the lot of the general public with licence to corruption and incompetence.
Hungry and angry people are waiting for change.
