Md. Bazlur Rashid :
Bangladesh has now been acknowledged as a middle-income country. Experts opined, the country has huge potential of economic development. Bangladesh government has set the goal to become a developed country by 2041. Accordingly different development projects including some mega ones are being implemented. But despite huge potential and high hopes, Bangladesh is still plagued by various social problems. The people of Bangladesh have a long history of political and economic struggle. Yet some social problems are forcing people to lag behind.
Sociologists define social problems as an inconsistency between culture and elements of society that endanger the life of a social group. The existing elements in the society can interfere the social relations if there is friction or conflict. As a result, the life of a society people or groups comes to a standstill.
The population problem is a major social problem in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a very populous country. Around 1800 people live per square kilometre. Therefore, agricultural land is decreasing every year. This overpopulation creates other social problems in transportation, education, and many more sectors.
Poverty-inequality-deprivation is a major social problem in Bangladesh. The situation is getting worse day by day instead of improving. Moreover, during the Covid-19 period, a large portion of people become poor in the country.
Unemployment is another social problem. The unemployment rate is very high in our country due to the scarcity of job opportunities. And this rate is increasing day by day. It is very difficult for a country to develop its economy by leaving a large part of its human resources inactive.
The housing problem is also a social problem. Large portions of the people in our country are landless. These people have no shelter and no place to stay. So day by day new slums is growing in the city. The people living in these slums are involved in various criminal activities.
Illiteracy is another social problem. Our country’s education rate is below standard. A few percent of the people are well educated. Illiteracy hinders the socio-economic development of the country.
Corruption is prevalent in almost all sectors of public-private and public sectors in Bangladesh. Corruption is not uncommon today. It has become a part and parcel of the daily life of the people of Bangladesh.
Another social problem is bribery. Whenever anyone goes for any kind of official work, he has to pay a bribe for any kind of work. It seems that nothing is possible in Bangladesh without a bribe.
Money laundering is a major social problem. Some dishonest people in our country illegally earned money and they laundered it abroad. It hinders the development of the country. Gender inequality is also a social problem. In our society, men and women are not considered equal. Because people always think that women are only for housework and giving birth to children. They do not have to go out just for work and for their economic activities or income. So they are not getting their basic rights properly.
Child labour has always been a major social problem in Bangladesh since its independence. A large number of children in the country work in different industrial and commercial establishments. A good portion of them is doing risky work from morning till evening. Besides, child marriage is another social problem. It is very common in the existing social structure in our country, especially in rural areas. Among others, a vital reason of child marriage is the safety of girls. Due to a lack of awareness and poverty, the village people marry their daughters off at an early age. This problem creates some other family and health-related problems.
Dowry is an old social problem. This system is now being modernized: At present, the mode of giving and receiving dowry is being modernized. It is more common in rural areas of Bangladesh. Dowry is another curse. This has become an obstacle to the overall socio-cultural development of Bangladesh.
Moreover, there are so many other social problems in Bangladesh like lack of proper education; woman and child trafficking; cultural differences; child and maternal mortality; social stigma and superstition; drugs use, traffic jams, the disorder in the public transport system and so on.
Thus, it needs strict actions from the Government to reduce these social problems for the sake of the development of the country. Experts help could be taken in this regard to reduce these problems. Researchers, development workers, social thinkers and policymakers should come forward to minimize these social problems.
Non-government organizations those are working for a long time in the rural areas can also play a vital role in this regard. However, a mass awareness campaign is needed to reduce those social problems. To become a developed country by 2041 those social problems must be resolved through our combined efforts.
(Md. Bazlur Rashid is Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, Tejgaon College, Dhaka).
