Dr. KasturiBhadra Roy
Links between the South Asian neighbours, People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of India are cultural, civilizational, social, and economic. There is much that unites the two countries – a shared history of the common heritage originating from the Bengal region, linguistic and cultural ties, passion for music, literature and the arts. Both are common members of SAARC, BIMSTEC, IORA (Indian Ocean Rim Association) the Commonwealth.
Bangladesh, however, once called a ‘bottomless basket’ by former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, has recently garnered worldwide acclaim for its strides in human development. As reflected in the Gender Gap Report‘s 17th edition (2023), Bangladesh secured 59th position in the overall tally. All other south Asian countries have ranks beyond 100. India secured rank 127.
As compared to India, more percentage of women is participating in paid work in Bangladesh. Economic participation’, in Bangladesh (0.438) is better than its neighbouring India (0.367). Wage of women is closer to the wage of Bangladeshi men for similar work and in fact, in 2018, Bangladesh’s gender wage gap was lowest in the globe (MTBiz 2018).
In ‘Educational attainment’ and ‘Health and survival’ sub-indices, Bangladesh attained (0.936) and (0.962) respectively and has done more or less the same as its neighbouring countries. These are sub-indices where most countries have done well.
However, in ‘political empowerment’, Bangladesh (0.552) is way ahead of its neighbours in south Asia, ranking 7th globally.
These achievements, however, run contrary to the traditional portrait of Muslim society and women in Bangladesh. If we look back at the post war of Independence era, in 1971, Tully
(2019) writes, the economy had collapsed, and, as a result, there was a famine in 1974. The government said 27,000 people died of starvation; unofficial estimates were as high as 1.8 million. The famine was followed by the assassination of Sheikh MujiburRahman, and almost his entire family, leading to a series of military coups and political instability.
Bangladesh went through difficult times, setting up a new administration, rehabilitating displaced persons, and dealing with the assassination of its founder and top political leadership and several aborted and successful military coups (Husain 2021). The two major political parties, Sheikh Hasina’sAwami League and Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party, have alternated in power since 1991. Since 2009, the Awami League has ruled, having won three consecutive elections.
The battle of the begums has remained intense and bitter. Khaleda Zia boycotted the elections and has remained in jail for quite some time along with many of her party stalwarts.
It is interesting in this perspective, to see how the country could make substantial economic and social headway with such fierce political rivalry and perceived instability.
Despite bitter political rivalries, however, there has been continuity in economic policies, projects and programmes in Bangladesh. The parties did not deviate from the basic anchors – macroeconomic stability, fiscal prudence, openness to trade, incentivizing the private sector and commitment to social development. Policy irreversibility has shown that a change of government would have no abrupt dislocation that could adversely affect investor and market sentiment, allowing investors to pursue their plans uninterrupted-resulting in economic gains over time (Husain 2021).
After a series of crises post the country’s 1971 liberation war, the elites in Bangladesh reached a consensus to develop better relationships with international donor agencies to take their support in rebuilding the country. The elites accepted the agencies’ conditions and priorities such as women-focused developmental programmes.
Bangladesh has successfully used its low-cost advantage to become a base for garment manufacturing. (Chakravarty 2013).This has led to the migration of millions of people from rural areas into the manufacturing sector, with women being the biggest beneficiaries.
From the 1990s, there were rising numbers of women in paid work in export factories, number of girls’ enrolment in schools, women receiving health care and other services. Women were employed in increasing numbers by the state, including as teachers, health workers, administrators and the police.
Husain also mentions that laws, policies and programmes to protect women and children against violence and to protect the most vulnerable from hunger and poverty were passed and implemented. Women played a growing role in politics through quotas and reservations (the index 0.552 in Bangladesh compared to 0.253 in India).
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, GrameenBank and Association for Social Advancement have also played a pivotal role in spreading education and health facilities and providing women access to Self-employment through micro credit schemes.
M NiazAsadullah et al (2013), in their article enumerate that an inclusive development strategy involving various non-government stakeholders, religious bodies and aid donors has helped Bangladesh in promoting women-centric development programmes. A strong commitment from the elites, support from donor agencies and involvement of non-government stakeholders in framing the development strategy helped keep women in the forefront of the development process. This is an interesting journey to learn from.
Bangladesh has depended on aid and had to accept the advice that comes with it. However, it hasnot always been a happy relationship. Bangladeshi NGOs, for instance, have often clashed with international donors. The Bangladeshis have claimed, with some justification, that they know what is best for their country. There have also been accusations that Bangladesh has developed an aid-dependence syndrome, and some donors have given bad advice at times, prompted by their country’s commercial interests rather than the interests of Bangladesh.
But Bangladesh’s dependence on aid has meant that it has been far less easy for politicians to politicize economic decisions or twist them to their own advantage. It is undeniable also that it has given NGOs the freedom to make a contribution to the county’s development. Guided by their experience of working on the ground, they have also been able to influenced policy.
India, on the other hand, has taken a different path to growth. Instead of low-skilled manufacturing jobs, the services sector has become the country’s economic powerhouse due to its pool of English-speaking skilled workforce. In the process, India missed its bus on becoming a manufacturing-led economy. The downside of this path is that the services sector is not labour-intensive and, thus, fails to create jobs at a commensurate pace as people join the workforce in a developing economy. The results as Khera (2016) sums up, unemployment and skill mismatch, which further widens gender gaps in formal employment and wages which India is experiencing to a considerable extent.
References:
Asadullah, M Niaz, Savoia A, Mahmud W (2013): ‘Paths to Development: Is there a Bangladesh Surprise?, ‘ Brooks World Poverty Institute working paper no 189, November 6, 2013.
ChakravartyM( 2013): ‘ Lessons for India from Bangladesh,’ Mint,19 May 19, 2013.
Husain, Israt (2021):’What India and Pakistan can learn from Bangladesh on its 50th anniversary of independence,’Dawn.com, Dec 17, 2021.
Kapoor A and C Jadav (2019) :’The Age of Awakening: The Story of the Indian Economy Since Independence,’Penguin Portfolio.
KheraP( 2016): ‘ Macroeconomic impacts of gender inequality and informality in India’, IMF Working Paper.
Kukreja, P (2019): ‘Skill mismatch and returns to education in manufacturing: A case study of India’s textile and clothing industry,’ working paper, id:13003, eSocialSciences.
MTBiz (2018): ‘Bangladesh’s gender wage gap lowest in the globe, Monthly Business Review, 9: 12.
Tully, M (2019): ‘What India can learn from Bangladesh’s success,’ Hindustan Times, September 7, 2019.