A report in a national daily said Dhaka city had a 61 per cent concentration of economic units of the country over the past decade. It contrasts the overall figure of 35.3 percent on an average over the past several decades. The figure thus shows the tremendous concentration at a cost of the shares of other divisional cities and business centers across the country.
Experts blame lack of infrastructure and communication network in areas outside the capital with ports and other mobility for the concentration of industries and business in and around the capital. But this in turn is widening the regional disparity and income inequality of Dhaka with other parts of the country. As we see it is natural and the blame must equally go to the government leaderships and the policy makers who have been running the state over the years.
But a terrible situation is arising out of such concentration in and around the capital. Take alone the case of garment industry and related service units. At present, the number of readymade garment factories in the country is around 4,500 and more than 3,000 of them are located in the capital and its suburbs at Savar, Gazipur, Ashulia and at the eastern gate of the city. The number of private schools, colleges and universities are also concentrated in the city. So also are hospitals, banks and financial institutions and transport companies operating from here.
But we must say this is a dreadful development and there is no respite unless the decentralization of facilities takes place. Now students are crowding the city in search for higher education. Job seekers are flocking in search of employment. The population of Dhaka city has increased manifold over the last four decades and it is growing as the mega city is expanding. We must therefore say manufacturing and business facilities must grow quickly at other parts of the country to reduce pressure on the capital. But the latest figure released by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) shows the situation is otherwise. It said the share of economic units in Chittagong division has rather decreased over the past decade to 19.4 percent from 20.1 percent. Khulna’s share fell to 11.5 per cent from 13.3 per cent, share of Barisal fell to 5.8 percent from 6.3 percent, Rajshahi’s share fell to 12.1 percent from 12.2 and Rangpur recorded down to 10.5 percent from 10.7 percent. Only Sylhet showed a slight improvement to 5.4 percent from 5.1 percent.
We hold the view that the government and the private sector must work together to expand the domestic infrastructure to allow expansion of manufacturing plants and business in the districts and divisional headquarters. To do that, the government may also set up more economic zones and industrial parks to encourage relocation of industries from the capital. Bangladesh also needs administrative, commercial and educational reshuffling to favour widespread decentralization. We hold the view that there is no alternative to save the capital from a reduced standard of living and help rural people to find jobs around the country and not just in Dhaka.