DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES IN THE NINETIES POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN BANGLADESH

This article examines the foremost development challenges for Bangladesh in the 1990s, identifying poverty alleviation as the central and overarching goal. It provides a critical assessment of the poverty landscape in the country, analyzing its scale, depth, and multifaceted nature. The study evaluates the development strategies pursued in previous decades and identifies their limitations. The research then explores the key challenges for the 1990s, including the need to accelerate pro-poor economic growth, manage rapid population growth, invest in human capital (education and health), and address the extreme vulnerability of the population to natural disasters. The paper also discusses the role of different actors in poverty alleviation, including the state, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international development partners. The analysis concludes that a successful poverty alleviation strategy for the decade would require a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach with a strong focus on empowering the rural poor.

As Bangladesh entered the 1990s with a newly restored democracy, the challenge of mass poverty remained its most daunting development problem. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the key issues and strategies related to poverty alleviation in this new decade. The study begins by painting a stark picture of the poverty situation, using available data to highlight its prevalence and its concentration in rural areas. The core of the paper is an examination of the critical challenges that needed to be addressed. A primary challenge identified is the need to generate employment-intensive economic growth, moving beyond a narrow focus on GDP to ensure that the benefits of growth are widely shared. A second major challenge is the imperative of human development; the paper argues that massive investments in primary education, particularly for girls, and in basic healthcare are not just social goals but essential prerequisites for sustainable poverty reduction. The third key challenge is reducing vulnerability, especially to the recurrent floods and cyclones that regularly push millions of households back into poverty. The paper also provides a nuanced analysis of the role of the burgeoning NGO sector, acknowledging its innovative contributions through microcredit and other programs, while also considering its relationship with the state. The findings suggest that the 1990s would be a critical decade for Bangladesh to lay the foundations of a more inclusive and resilient development model.