The seasonal curse of ‘monga’, which prevailed for decades causing miseries to the extremely poor during lean period of ‘Aswin’ and ‘Kartik’ months in greater Rangpur region, has been eradicated permanently improving their socioeconomic condition.
Massive social safety-net activities along with other effective efforts, including income generation activities, being implemented by the government during the past five years, ‘monga’ has been driven away improving socioeconomic condition of the poorer section people relieving them from the curse.
According to the social experts, NGO executives, government officials and commoners, eradication of ‘monga’ from Rangpur region is one of the glaring successes of the immediate past and present governments led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to fulfill her pre-election pledges. The extremely poor people, who passed Aswin and Kartik months amid untold miseries in the pasts, have been passing the same period without experiencing any bite of seasonal ‘monga’ in recent years, said District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer of Rangpur Abdus Salam.
Executive Director of Rangpur-based Northbengal Institute of Development Studies Dr Syed Samsuzzaman said the success has been achieved following decisive political will and various effective steps of the government in eradicating the seasonal curse once for all from the region.
Head of Programme Coordination of RDRS Bangladesh Manjushree Saha said economic condition of the poor has improved substantially during the past five years because of their engagements with various income generating activities following effective GO-NGO collaboration and private initiatives.
Thousands of the poor have achieved self-reliance through self-employments, small-scale enterprises, trades, cottage industries, sewing handloom garments, microcredit activities, homestead farming, pisciculture, rearing poultry birds, animals and participatory social afforestation and other income generation activities.
The easy-term and interest-free loans, vocational training for unemployed youths, girls and women on various trades for income generation activities, assistances of the government, NGOs, donor agencies, development partners also played important roles in eradicating ‘monga’, Manjushree added.
Reputed rice scientist Dr M A Mazid said expanded cultivation and early harvest of the short duration paddies evolved by Bangladesh Rice Research Institute during the lean period has been creating huge jobs for the farm labourers, poor and distressed people since 2007 helping them to overcome the situation.
According to the experts, the government has still been implementing comprehensive social safety-net programmes like employment generation, VGF, VGD, TR, and FFW very effectively along with other income generation activities closing all doors for reappearance of the seasonal curse.
As a result of successful implementation of these anti-‘monga’ programmes, the poorer section people did not experience any bite of ‘monga’ in the region during the past five years as their socioeconomic condition has improved by and large.
Chilmari upazila chairman Shawkat Ali Sarker, Bir Bikram, said economic condition of the extremely poor has been changed improving their lifestyle during the past five years and their children are going to schools now in the region where the poor lived under abject poverty even a decade ago.
Editor of the Chilmari-based Weekly Juger Khabar S M Nurul Amin Sarker said economic condition of the poor has been improving continuously in recent years following departure of ‘monga’ and nobody can find adolescents, girls and children as domestic help now even in the remote areas.
