Bagladesh Studies
CONTENTS
1. PART – A
i. Preface ii. Acknowledgement iii. Objectives of the study iv. Methodology of the study
2. Unemployment
2.1 Historical Background of Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh: 2.2 Measurement 2.3 Causes of Unemployment Problem
2.4 Effect of Unemployment Problem
2.5 Some recommendations to reduce Unemployment
2.6 Government Policy towards Unemployment 2.7 Private Organizations & NGO Activities
3. Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation 3.1 Grameen Bank & role of Grameen Bank in poverty alleviation. 3.2 Islami Bank & role of Islami Bank in poverty alleviation. 3.3 ASA & role of ASA in poverty alleviation. 4. Drug Addiction 4.1 Types of Drug 4.2 The Dangers and Destruction Caused by Drugs 4.3 Resistance to Drug Use
5. Conclusion
Preface
First of all I would like to be grateful to the Allah, The merciful and the benevolent that have enable me to complete this assignment.
This assignment is a part of the academic discipline, for the BBA student has been designed to acquire practical knowledge. It is expected that the integration of knowledge in theories and practices will enable me to become effective through this assignment. I have got the chance to make an assignment on “Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh, Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation, Drug Addiction is a Social Problem in Bangladesh” that helps me to acquire some experience which is expected that to enrich my knowledge. Finally, it is my earnest and sincere hope that this assignment on “Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh, Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation, Drug Addiction is a Social Problem in Bangladesh” would be found useful by the individuals who want to know about the situation of Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh, Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation, and Drug Addiction is a Social Problem in Bangladesh.
Acknowledgement
I am grateful to our honorable teacher who has helped and encouraged me at each and every step. At the very outset I extend my heartiest gratitude to our honorable teacher Feroza Akter Khanam , Assistant Professor , Department Of Finance & Banking, University of Chittagong, for her massive support, supervision, guidance and cooperation. We would like to thank my friends to cooperate me during the preparation of the assignment. My thanks also go to the composers of various articles and papers that we gone through. I deeply acknowledge her contribution
Tahmina Akter
ID: 09303112
3rd Year (Mid-Term) BBA
Department of Finance & Banking
University of Chittagong
Objectives of the study
The main objective of preparing this assignment is:
· To identify the unemployment as a social & national problem
· To identify reason for unemployment problem
· To recognize solution for unemployment problem,
· To recognize role of micro credit in poverty alleviation,
· To identify drug addiction as a social and national problem and way to solve this problem. Methodology of the study In order to complete this report we had to work hard for researching over the taxation and economic system of our country. For this we collected a number of data and statistics from various sources. To fulfill our objectives we collected data from primary and secondary source:
A) Primary data collected through:
1. Observation
2. Class lecture
3. Seminar
B) Secondary data collected from:
1. Various website
2. Books and Journals
3. Financial reports
2) Unemployment
Unemployment is the synonym of joblessness. By this term we understand a state of affairs in which a man or an able work force has to remain jobless in spite of the fact that he desires to get a job to earn his living. In other words, it is a situation in which aggregate employment remains static in response to an increased demand for its output. As a day’s pass, demand for more jobs increases. If there are not enough jobs in comparison with the demand, then the problem of unemployment occurs.
Unemployment means the state of being without any work both for the educated and uneducated for earning one’s livelihood. Unemployment problem has become a great concern all over the world. But nowhere in the world is this problem as acute as in Bangladesh. Thousands of people in our country are without any job.
Unemployment is a great concern in Bangladesh. Every year hundreds of thousands student are coming out from college and university. Though it is one of the major responsibilities of the Government to provide job to those young generation but the Government is failed to meet the job demand among the large population. Only a tiny fraction of total jobless is managed by different government offices and private organization but a majority remain unemployed. 1. Historical Background of Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh:
Historically for a long time British administration was the main cause of this problem. After ending Mughol regime when British came in Sub continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) they started to do business, they exploited the sub-continent. They did not establish any Industry which is helpful to remove the unemployment problem.
After 1971 Bangladesh has been facing political crisis badly. As a result no government can take long term massive step to remove the unemployment problem. Within 37 years Bangladesh has experience about eight new governments and two assassination incident at the top level country leader.
The 1995-96 Labor Force Survey (LFS) of Bangladesh considered a person of age 10 years and over as unemployed if he/she did not work at all during the preceding week of the survey but was actively looking for work or was available for work.
The total civilian labour force of the country in 1996-97 was estimated at 42.97 million, of which 34.7 million were male and 8.27 million were female.The 1995-96 LFS estimated the female participation rate at 18.1%.
The labour force in Bangladesh grew faster than the population and had almost doubled between the year of independence and mid 1990s. The employment on man-year basis has, however, increased and the absolute unemployment, as well as underemployment had reduced. The rate of underemployment was 38.78% in 1972-73 and 27.95% in 1996-97. Figures on un- and underemployment vary in official documents as may observed from a comparison between tables 1 and 2.
Since agriculture has not been able to absorb increased labour force there has been large migration from rural to urban areas. However, agriculture still employs the highest number of labour (63.2%). Informal labour force dominates the labour market. The Labour Force Survey, 1995/96 showed that about 40.1% were unpaid family workers. 17.9% were day labour, 12.4% were regularly employed workers and 29.6% were self-employed.
More than one-third of the employed persons both at the national and rural levels is underemployed. The underemployment is much higher in the female population than in the male population. Of the unpaid family workers 77.9% are female. 2. Measurement
Though many people care about the number of unemployed individuals, economists typically focus on the unemployment rate. This corrects for the normal increase in the number of people employed due to increases in population and increases in the labour force relative to the population. The unemployment rate is expressed as a percentage, and is calculated as follows:
As defined by the International Labor Organization[->0], "unemployed workers" are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work. Individuals who are actively seeking job placement must make the effort to: be in contact with an employer, have job interviews, contact job placement agencies, send out resumes, submit applications, respond to advertisements, or some other means of active job searching within the prior four weeks. Simply looking at advertisements and not responding will not count as actively seeking job placement. Since not all unemployment may be "open" and counted by government agencies, official statistics on unemployment may not be accurate.
2.3) Causes of unemployment problem: 2.4) Effect of unemployment problem:
In Social & Economic Life: Unemployment has a far reaching effect on the economy of the country. In fact, unemployed are social parasites. They drain upon the natural wealth hut can contribute noting for the economic progress of the country. They themselves also feel uneasy over the situation. The Unemployment problem deserves emphasis from two points of views, economic and socio-political. From an economic point of view, if this valuable work force could be used, it would be very useful for the economy. The increase in the national income and investment could have been much greater than, what we actually have. From the socio-political point of view, the failure of secure full employment is even more serious. The existence of a large scale unemployed people creates a potentially explosive socio- political situation. Besides, this may lead them to involve themselves in various anti-social activities and crimes.
In Individual & Family Life: Unemployment brings starvation to the individual as well as the family and crimes, discontent and vice to the society. An unemployed man leads a life of dishonor. He loses all sense of self-prestige and every one considers him as an object of pity.
So we should try heart and should to get rid of this unwanted problem. The government must adopt all possible measures to exploit the available resources and wealth and try to maximize the production by minimum investment. Effective measures must have to be taken to keep the population growth under control. It we can successfully realize our plans and programmes, we hope that we will be able to reduce this problem though not completely remove it.
All possible efforts must be made to solve the problem. Though it is hard to uproot the curse like unemployment but it is not impossible. To remove the problem industrialization should be done rapidly, so that more new employment could be generated. Besides, more small and cottage industries should be set. People have to change their outlook and attitude. The Govt. should also help them by providing interest free loans this purpose. 5. Some recommendations to reduce Unemployment:
Create a National Office of Employment to develop long term strategies and oversight of the Bangladesh labor market in order to track trends, analyze data, research emerging problems, and prepare early interventions. Identify growing and potential industries and the skills they will need in future staff. Design a plan which allows for the rapid retargeting of training courses as Community Colleges and vocational schools are traditionally 5 to 15 years behind current needs. Renovate the processes of State Unemployment Offices by implementing coordinated support programs in which workers participate as part of receiving unemployment benefits and employers participate as a means of meeting their future needs for staff. Provide incentives for employers to hire more part-time workers
2.6) Government Policy towards Unemployment:
The government has several projects to increase employment among the mass. The main objective of the government policy is to create self-employment by training & encouraging small business among the mass. Government has undertaken a high budget Youth Training Program to create trained workforce in the country. Government’s road & highway development projects provide jobs to many. Women development ministry has training centers for women to create self employment. Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) also work to provide workers who want to work abroad. Ministry of Labor and Employments vision is to reduce unemployment & poverty through productive employment & human resource development by maintaining good industrial relation & relation development between workers & employers. Their plan is to create employment opportunities, create semi-skilled & skilled manpower, Enhance productivity of Factories by creating Friendly working environment between workers & Employers, Ensure welfare of workers in different industrial area & implement Labor-Laws to fix up minimum wages of labor & in severe cases ensure justice through Labor Court. 2.7) Private Organizations & NGO Activities: Several private organizations such as The Grameen Bank, Proshika,
Save the Children, Brac, ASA,WBTF, etc. are working in the country to increase employment rate. Grameen Bank founder, Dr. Younus& his microcredit scheme has earned its reputation worldwide. Grameen Bank allows loan to the poor &helpless people, especially women of villages. They encourage them to invest this money for productivepurposes. Their target is to self-employ the unemployed. They give loan for small business, buying lands,making firms, etc. Microcredit policy gives loans without through trust. This helps those people whohave nothing to bail & enables them make enough capital to start business. The NGOs gives training tomen-women & promote cottage industries. This allows them to be self-dependent & creates more jobs. There are several privately run employment agencies & job sites that provide job, mostly for the educated & students.
3) Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation:
Micro-credit:
Micro-credit refers to programs that are poverty focused and that provide financial and business services to very poor persons for generation of self-employment and income. Credit is a powerful instrument to fight poverty. The role of micro-credit in reducing poverty is now well recognized all over the world. It is no longer the subject matter of micro-credit practitioners alone. Governments, donors, development agencies, banks, universities, consultants, philanthropists and others have increasing interest in it.
With the advent of Grameen Bank and other such programs micro-credit obtained a new identity, a new meaning and a place in development literature. It is no more a mere concept. It is now a worldwide movement. The total outreach of Microcredit
Programs (MCP) as compiled by the Micro-credit Summit (MCS) is 54.9 million clients including 26.8 million very poor when they started with the program. According to a guess estimate of Muhammad Yunus, however, the number of poorest clients families reached by MCPs would be at least 35 million by the end of 2002. This includes those who have not been reported by the MCS.
Credit creates opportunities for self-employment rather than waiting for employment to be created. It liberates both poor and women from the clutches of poverty. It brings the poor into the income stream. Given the access to credit under an appropriate institutional structure and arrangement, one can do whatever one does best and earn money for it. One can overcome poverty. One can become the architect of one–s destiny and the agent of change not only for one–s family but also for the society.
Poverty and Micro-credit:
There is an on going debate whether credit alone or credit plus is needed for poverty reduction. There are views that credit alone on its own is inadequate to fight poverty. The need for other services is also important in this respect. Such views, although, do not negate the role of credit, fail to appreciate the role of credit on its own merit.
Nobody says that credit alone is cure for all. Most of the practitioners believe that credit plays a vital role as an instrument of intervention for a poor person to discover her potential and to stride for better living. Muhammad Yunus advocates that Credit is a human right. Once this right is established, the entitlement to other rights for leading a dignified life becomes easier. It empowers to break the vicious cycle of poverty by instantaneously creating self-employment and generating income. When in the ultimate analysis nothing can be said to be panacea, by overemphasising that micro-credit is not a panacea is in a sense overreacting and underestimating the role of credit as an instrument to combat poverty. Micro-credit is itself a very powerful tool. But if it is combined with others, it is definitely more empowering. How micro-credit can reduce poverty may better be understood by understanding conceptually the mechanisms by which financial services can affect the lives of the poor. It is important to consider the fulfillment of basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, health, education and psychological well-being), the means to achieve welfare at present and in the future, social networks and empowerment and vulnerability to risk.
Poverty reduction may also be considered from both short term and long term perspectives. In the short term it can be understood with reference to individual borrowers, their households and also the society at large. Different studies conducted in Bangladesh and elsewhere show that there is positive correlation between micro-credit programs and their accrued benefits in terms of employment, income generation and promotion of social indicators.
Micro-credit Impact:
A recent study concluded by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and the World Bank in Bangladesh provides a strong indication that Micro-credit do help the poor in consumption smoothing as well as in asset building. The study also suggests that micro-finance programs promote investment in human capital like schooling. It raises awareness to reproductive health and increases both individual and household welfare.
If one considers the benefits of micro-credit programs enjoyed by different categories of poor one gets mixed feelings. The ongoing debate whether microcredit programs benefit the extreme poor deserves critical evaluation. While many argue that the extreme poor get little benefit from it as they are mostly excluded, a recent World Bank study in Bangladesh has come with encouraging results. It reconfirms that micro-finance matters a lot for the very poor borrowers and also for the local economy. It helps reduce extreme poverty more than moderate poverty. In order to meet the clients needs and satisfaction, it is important that MCPs should have considered appropriate product development that will serve different needs of clients and enables them to improve the quality of their lives. Given the assumption that at the entry point all clients should come from the poorest, the need for developing different products for different levels of borrowers (1st , 2nd,
3rd time loanees and so on) is also important. Once this, as well as, appropriate mechanism for credit delivery and recovery are in place, it will not only reduce individual and aggregate poverty (may not be very significant) but will also help create a strong foundation for sustainable operation of MCPs.
How micro-credit programs impact the lives of the poor, can be learnt from the impact studies of Grameen Bank (GB), its partners and others who are poverty focused. 3.1)Grameen Bank :
Grameen Bank, the pioneering institution in the field of poverty finance is now serving 2.6 million borrowers with 95% as women. All it clients at the time of their first loans were among the poorest. Given the access to credit, they have an enabling environment to strive for better life to cross poverty line and to continue to improve. The Grameen Generalised System (Grameen Bank II) provided them more options and flexibility. It is tailor-made and tension free. It takes care of many dimensions of poverty reduction. Its impact on the lives of its borrowers may be examined from the economic, social and political points of views.
Grameen Bank (GB) has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. GB provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh, without any collateral. At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the over all development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable. Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of "Grameen Bank" and its Managing Director, reasoned that if financial resources can be made available to the poor people on terms and conditions that are appropriate and reasonable, "these millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder."
Professor Muhammad Yunus is the managing director and founder of Grameen Bank, which currently operates 1,148 branches providing credit to over 2.4 million poor people residing in 39,857 villages in Bangladesh. Grameen Bank was his creation and he continues to be a strong advocate of micro-credit, arguing that it is only through collateral-free credit, made available in particular to poor women, that poverty can be alleviated.
He started the Grameen Bank Project in 1976 and saw it to its completion in 1983, and still holds the post of managing director in the organization.
In an exclusive interview with Asia Society, Professor Yunus discusses the importance of micro-credit for poverty alleviation in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
As of October, 2011, it has 8.349 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. With 2,565 branches, GB provides services in 81,379 villages, covering more than 97 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh. Economic Effects :
Grameen has been widely researched and recognized for making a difference in the lives of its members. Studies show that the borrowers of Grameen Bank are steadily moving out of poverty. One such study shows that it is at the rate of 5% a year. According to another study based on a household survey in an area where
Grameen has been operating for more than a decade, about 50% of the Grameen households have crossed the poverty line. Another 25% were about to cross it and the rest was struggling mainly because of health reasons.
A study examining the economic effects of Grameen on the life of its borrowers, compared the situations ‘before’– and ‘after’, ‘with’ and ‘without’ Grameen. It considered the effects of Grameen operation on capital accumulation, employment, income and poverty alleviation. The study found that without any capital base at the beginning, the Grameen borrowers started accumulating capital as they joined Grameen which has not been possible by others. Grameen loan is required to be paid back in small installments as per agreement. The borrowers pay the installment from generated income, leaving the original capital intact.
Their capital base usually increases in large amounts as they go for subsequent loans that enable them to go for medium and long-term investments.
The study also found that 31 percent of the borrowers reported themselves as unemployed before joining Grameen. Grameen created new employment for them and especially for the female members who were earning nothing before. The effect of Grameen loans on reducing unemployment is impressive. The borrowers were found less underemployed than before. More than 91 percent of the borrowers in the survey area reported that Grameen had made a positive contribution to their standard of living. The bank has been able to lift a significant proportion of its borrowers and their household members out of poverty. A World
Bank study found that profits from Grameen-financed businesses were increasing borrowers– consumption by 18% per year, and that the percentage of Grameen borrowers living in extreme poverty was reduced by 70% within 4.2 years of joining. According to a recent survey conducted by Grameen Bank the cumulative percentage of borrowers who have crossed the poverty line until 2002 is over 46%.
Such findings of the above mentioned studies are corroborated by many other studies conducted in different areas and at different points of time.
Grameen is contributing directly and indirectly to the gross domestic product of
Bangladesh. During the period 1994-1996, its net contribution to GDP as a percentage of total GDP in current prices has been more than one percent.
Grameen borrowers have been found to improve their conditions in terms of housing and clothing too. They can afford more and warm clothes during winter seasons. Till the end of April 2003, they have built 566333 houses with housing loans from Grameen.Women are the owners of 95% of these houses. They hold the title for the land of these houses. This was unthinkable for them before they joined Grameen. 3.2) Islami Bank Ltd.
The establishment of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited on March 13, 1983, is the true reflection of this inner urge of its people, which started functioning with effect from March 30, 1983. This Bank is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It is committed to conduct all banking and investment activities on the basis of interest-free profit-loss sharing system. In doing so, it has unveiled a new horizon and ushered in a new silver lining of hope towards materializing a long cherished dream of the people of Bangladesh for doing their banking transactions in line with what is prescribed by Islam. With the active co-operation and participation of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and some other Islamic banks, financial institutions, government bodies and eminent personalities of the Middle East and the Gulf countries, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has by now earned the unique position of a leading private commercial bank in Bangladesh.
With 251 branches and 10,068 staffs, IBBL is the largest private banking network in Bangladesh.
Micro-Credit through Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL)
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) started its functioning on 12th August 1983. The IBBL is the first interest free bank in the South Asia. Now it has 200 branches (IBBL, 2008). It ranked the highest in foreign transactions and achieved the highest grade (A+) in CAMEL (C= Capital, A=Asset, M=Management, E= Efficiency and L= Liquidity) rating. The functions of the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited are as under: (a) to maintain all types of deposit accounts; (b) to make investment; (c ) to conduct foreign exchange business; (d) to extend other banking services and (e) to conduct social welfare activities through Islami Bank Foundation and so on.
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) envisages an economic system based on equity and justice. Taking into consideration that the majority of the population below poverty line lives in rural Bangladesh, the Bank has devised a “Rural Development Scheme” (RDS) with a view to creating employment opportunity for them and reduce their poverty through income generation activities. The IBBL through its RDS project has been implementing integrated programs for the landless poor, wage labours and marginal farmers aimed at meeting their basic needs and promoting their comprehensive development. In order to consolidate their economic base, invested money should be used in income generating activities. The RDS has been working for the realization of that objective to create income generating activities and productive self-employment opportunities through extension of investment for the development of rural area and thereby contribute to the alleviation of rural poverty. Investment is allowed for the purpose of production of crops, off-farm income activities like service, trading, processing and manufacturing, shop keeping, peddling and rural transport like rickshaw, rickshaw-van, cart, irrigation equipment, hand tube-well, housing materials etc., Al together about 343 types of non-agricultural economic activities have so far been covered.
Investment financing under RDS program of IBBL is generally collateral-free. But fish culture in ponds and the purchase of agricultural and irrigation implements require large amount of collateral in the form of an equitable mortgage. In this process investment is provided to individual who formed a group as prescribed by the RDS Program. Each member of the group is required to provide a personal guarantee for his group. Investment financing starts after a three-month observation of the group members in terms of regularity in their attendance in weekly group meetings, centre meetings, and the deposit of their personal savings. Two members from each group selected by the group members are considered for investment financing. The rest of the group members become eligible for financing after the numbers who have already received loan have duly paid their 2 or 3 installments. The loan is approved by the investment committee, headed by the respective branch manager of the Bank. The investment committee meets once in a month regularly to perform its duties.
The following Islamic modes of investment are applied for investment financing of the group members:
a. Bai-Muajjal
Under this mode bank sells goods to the client under deferred payment basis. The payment is made in lump sum or in fixed installments within a predetermined future date.
b. Hire-Purchase Shirkatul Melk (HPSM)
Under this mode bank may supply implements/equipments on rental basis. The ownership of the equipment remains with the Bank but the client is authorized to posses the equipment for certain period.
c. Mudaraba TR
Under this mode bank may supply capital to the mudarib (agent) for conducting business, purchase of inputs, commodities etc. to be repaid on future date.
d. Musharaka
Under this mode the bank extends investment on profit and loss sharing basis. The capital sharing ratio will be maximum 80:20 between Bank and the client. The profit is to be negotiated and will be determined so as to ensure minimum 12% rate of return. e. Bai-Salam
Under this mode bank executes advance purchase contract with the client and make payment against purchase of the product by the client.
f. Murabaha TR
Under this sale contract bank purchases a certain commodity for the client as requested and specified by him and deliver the same to the client on payment at a pre-determined price.
3.3) ASA, Bangladesh
‘ASA’ has the reputation of being the most rapidly expanding and best-managed MFI in the world– MICROSAVE / UNDP / CGAP
· ASA has emerged as one of the largest and most efficient Microfinance Institution (MFI) in the world and has been working relentlessly to assist the poor since its inception in 1978.
· The major drive behind ASA is to gradually eradicate poverty from society.
· As of June 2008, ASA has successfully extended its outreach in Bangladesh through 3,324 branches and its 25,125 staff work relentlessly to serve more than 7.13 million clients in 72,204 villages.
ASA has been working relentlessly to reduce poverty since its inception in 1978.
The formal banking sector in developing countries, like Bangladesh, does not typically provide financial services to the poor. This sector concentrates on large loans to the upper class, thereby completely excluding low income groups. Sustainable Microfinance Model
ASA –SUSTAINABILITY
ASA has been widely recognized one of the world's largest sustainable, cost-effective and fully grants free Micro Finance Institutions (MFI).
Over the last 16 years, ASA has achieved highest Operational Self Sufficiency (OSS) and Financial Self Sufficiency (FSS) within a short period of time.
ASA cost effective model also proven itself in different countries in Asia and Africa. ASA branches have proved its capacity to reach a break even point within a year.
ASA has maintained high self sufficiency from the beginning of operations and it continue to date.
ASA has been rated to have the highest OSS and FSS compare with Global MFIs and Asian Largest FIs. Micro-finance Module:
· Captures daily loan/savings/security disbursement and collection information
· Client and group management
· Produces loan officer and branch performance measure / monitoring reports
ASA's Contribution to Microfinance Sector
Result of an Impact Assessment
An impact assessment of the ASA microfinance programs has recently been carried out from the ASA Research and Documentation Cell. The assessment covered the long-term members, we continued minimum 3 years membership (from 2005 to 2007), in the credit program of ASA.
The assessment was carried out to gauge the impact of the ASA microfinance programs in the lives of its clients, that is, changes brought about in their day-to-day lives through utilization of microfinance facilities provided by ASA.
With a view to selecting a sample size, multi-stage sampling of management units from the administrative divisions to members has been done. From all of the 6 administrative divisions of Bangladesh, 12 districts were taken by selecting 2 districts from each division. Then 4 ASA branches from each district were selected. Among the branches, 2 were taken from rural and 2 from urban areas. 4 Loan Officers from each branch were taken, i.e., 4x48=192 Loan Officers were selected and 4 groups of each Loan Officer were taken. At this 4x192 = 768 Groups came under the study. Each group has 20 members on average, that is, 768 x 20= 15,360 members in total. 5 (25%) Members from each Group, i.e. 5x768 = 3,840 Members were taken as the sample size.
· Selection process: Members were selected for interview through a systematic sampling of odd numbers such as 1, 3,5,7,9 and so on.
· Method of data collection: Interview method (individual) and tool for data collection was structured questionnaire.
· Time: September to December 2007.
The microfinance movement, however, has shown that there is a thriving market among the poor when financial products cater to their specific needs. The poor are a quite active group in any economy. ASA has shown that their needs can be met while at the same time making the providing institution profitable as well.
4)Drug Addiction:
In pharmacology, drug is a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being. Drugs may be prescribed in a limited dose for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders. But whenever we use it by exceeding the prescribed limit, then it shows its adverse effect and started to work in accordance with Einstein’s theory: “Every thing has its same and opposite reaction”. The adverse effect is nothing but addiction. Here addiction is the negative aspects of drug. Addiction level of drugs increase with each day of use.
The term “addiction” is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive physical dependence or psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction, alcoholism, tobacco dependency, compulsive overeating, problem gambling, computer addiction, etc. In other words, addiction has many forms, some of them related to substances such as drugs or alcohol, while others are related to extreme psychological dependence of the individual on behaviors such as gambling, overeating, and increasingly internet surfing.
Many addicts can become re-addicted. Many of their religious and moral values are not strong enough. Drug treatment and rehabilitation centers may be attached to mosques and other places of worship. Induction of religious values is a significant part of the treatment. The whole course of treatment of drug addiction revolves around the restoration of social, community and religious values in the patient. Addicts are many a time found to be oblivious about religious imperatives and rituals.
In recent years Drug Addiction has significantly increased in Bangladesh. This agent of human devastation has spread its tentacles worldwide and also in our country. Every intelligent and humane person in the world society and international organisations such as the UN and WHO are alarmed by the present rate of addiction. In our country the regular seizures of stocks of heroin and other hard drugs by the police and narcotics department gives us an indication of the extent of addiction in our country. Nowadays nearly ten per cent of outpatients in our hospitals are cases of drug addiction involving heroin, ganja and phensidyl. These are generally youths and young men between 15-30 years of age and come from all strata of the society. But there are adolescents below 15 years of age and men and women over 30. Hospital surveys show that average age of drug addicts is 22. The addicts are students, professionals, businessmen, laborers, rickshawallahs and from other professions. Students are most affected and drugs have caused deterioration in standards of education and students have also given up going to schools and colleges. These addicts are turning to various criminal activities, in order to procure drugs. 4.1) Types of Drugs:
Generally speaking drugs are substances that affect the physical and mental condition of persons significantly and adversely Any substance that can lead to addiction, misuse and dependence is a drug. Addiction level of drugs increase with each day of use. If drugs are not available, the patient shows critical withdrawal symptoms when immediate medical care is needed to prevent physical and mental deterioration, even death. World Health Organization (WHO) defines Drug; Drug is a chemical substance of synthetic, semi synthetic or natural origin intended for diagnostic, therapeutic or palliative use or for modifying physiological functions of man and animal.
Drug impacts directly influence the economic and social aspects of a country and physically to a human body. Drugs are separated into two categories – Soft drugs: Alcohol;| Cigarettes; | Marijuana; | Glue, Hash etc.|
Hard drugs:
Ecstasy;| Speed; | Amphetamine| Cocaine;|
There are many types of drugs available use in Bangladesh:
Opium |Bhang|
Heroin |Yaba |
Phensidyl |Vayagra |
Tidijesic|Tranquilizer |
Pethidine |Sleeping Pill|
Cannabis|Seduxene |
Ganja |Diazapam |
Chorosh |Dexpotent|
Drug Addiction Symptoms:
· The addict develops a craving for the drug, and he spends all his efforts procuring it.
· Drug tolerance in users leads to increased dosage of drugs needed to provide the same degree of enjoyment and kick.
· Without drugs the addict loses his mental and physical abilities to work and enjoy life which is termed as psychological dependence and physical dependence.
Reasons for Drug Addiction
In brief the reasons determined through research, include:
· Curiosity and excitement through use
· Despair and frustration among the youth
· Some patients are addicts because they try to follow the western culture of drugs and enjoyment of life.
· All drug addicts in our country are afraid of social stigma more than the threat from the law. 4.2)The Dangers and Destruction Caused by Drugs
Drug addiction beings on rapid erosion of educational and cultural, moral and family values. The addicts lose their professional and educational capabilities, self-dignity, and get involved in serious or petty criminal activities. The sole aim in life of an addict becomes the procurement and use of drugs. Other aims and objectives in life are thrown by the roadside. Besides, dread diseases such as Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS can easily attack drug addicts through use of injectible drugs.
In our country, heroin is mostly smoked within aluminum foil or cigarette paper, but in other countries this is injected. Intravenous injection of pethidine/ morphine and now tadigesic brand of riknomar penic. These are extremely dangerous drugs and increases addiction manifold. Injections through infected needles can cause diseases of the liver, brain, heart, lungs and spinal cord. Normal medication also interacts with heroin and cause many complications, which many addicts do now know about. Such interactions may also cause e death.
Heroin addiction lowers mental enthusiasm and efforts and physical ability The addict loses contact with normal society and becomes self and drug-centered. He engages in all types of activities to obtain money to buy drugs. A Heroin addict may need about Taka 500 worth of the drug a day. He neglects the needs of the family, and those are non-earning may sell off family assets. They also go out on the streets for mugging and dacoity
Words of Caution for the Parents
Children are the beloved of the parents. Suspicions of one's child engaged in immoral and criminal activities are a source of the utmost heartache for the parents. Yet for this very reason, children must be kept under close observation. Behavioral and emotional changes are common in the adolescent and young men. But long-standing changes and rapid shifts in mood needs specialist doctor's attention and investigation. Heroin addicts live in a dream world, unconnected with realism and the environment around them. They lose concentration, live alone, and are irritated by interference and contact with non-addicts or other addicts. They rub their eyes and legs, and lose appetite rapidly.
If you come to know that your son or daughter is a heroin addict, do not lose calm and temper. Try to take stock of the situation and seek medical attention immediately, without trying to forcibly rid your children of the habit. Symptoms of Heroin Addiction
· Your shy child may become aggressive about money. Keep your son/daughter under observation.
· If you suspect anything, examine their rooms in their absence. Burnt paper, empty cigarette packets, oily scraps of paper are some signs.
· Rapid weight loss of your child . Avoidance of any reply to your queries about weight loss . Get answers from them and keep under observation
· Uncertain temper, loss of appetite, lack of sleep, hand tremors.
· Regular onset of fever at a fixed time. Watery eyes.
Withdrawal symptoms vary with patients according to dosage and the patient's personality. Withdrawal symptoms start four hours after the last dosage of heroin. Eight hours later the patients yawns, sweats, with watery eyes and nose. 6 hours later his muscles start aching. No appetite at all. Within 24 to 36 hours the patient may have fever. No sleep and rise in blood pressure and pulse count results. Between 36 to 48 hours the patient may vomit with diarrhoea. Some also ejaculate. The symptoms slowly disappear. After one week the patient feels better. But normalcy returns after two to four weeks.
Treatment: The main points in the treatment of drug addiction are to reduce use of substances, to increase public awareness and social resistance and treatment and rehabilitation of the drug addict in specialized institutions. 4.3) Resistance to Drug Use
· Dissemination of Information: The target group has to be made aware and fully informed about drugs, its misuse and horrifying consequences. Educational institution, student and youth organizations should be involved in group discussion and meetings, with advocacy and awareness programmes through posters, slogans, radio and TV programme and various mass communication agenda, including the print media. Community leaders, politicians, sport and movie personalities can take active part in the campaign against drug addiction. Organizations to resist drug addiction must be built up by the students and youths
· Alternative Programmes: The inherent strengths of the youth in society have to be put to constructive work. Monotony, idleness, unemployment cause despair and frustration in the patient, and to seek solace elsewhere the target group look to drugs for comfort and to forget the trouble and tension of everyday life. Monotony and frustration may be eliminated through sports and games, physical training and competitive games, social work which make the youth adjust to the environment. Student life exposes the youth to many social pressures which leads to despair and tensions and the need for drugs to forget the stresses of modern life. Counseling of students on mental and physical health and tackling of various problem at school and college is required. Medical care is extremely and urgently necessary for the addicts. Withdrawal symptoms hinder the giving up of the habit. The first step in treatment is to stop drugs and treat for the withdrawal symptoms. Various physical symptoms of withdrawal have to be treated at this stage. Stopping the taking of heroin has to be under the supervision of a specialist. To get the patient to agree to treatment for addiction is the first step in the treatment. The patient will try to make excuses to avoid treatment. Sometime the patient stops taking requisite medication. The giving up of heroin without specialist advice is a waste of time, energy and money.
The Role of Religious Values
Many addicts can become re-addicted. Many of their religious and moral values are not strong enough. Drug treatment and rehabilitation centers may be attached to mosques and other places of worship. Induction of religious values is a significant part of the treatment. The whole course of treatment of drug addiction revolves around the restoration of social, community and religious values in the patient. Addicts are many a time found to be oblivious about religious imperatives and rituals.
Every disease has a cure. We must come out of this monopolistic deadly game. Some ‘entry barriers’ and ‘exit points’ are given in the recommendation chapter. But that is not enough. A more intensive research, action program, and social movement are needed. Conclusion:
Unemployment is a great curse to a nation. We cannot expect the development of our country leaving its millions of the people unemployment to survive as a boastful nation. We should make all out efforts to get rid of this curse. Poverty reduction is undoubtedly a doable proposition. It can be significantly and rapidly reduced with Grameen type micro-credit programs provided:
· required funds are available to the nascent micro-credit industry at reasonable costs, · a professionally, competent and motivated staff is engaged in performing the operational tasks,
· the communication or knowledge gap between donors and practitioners is minimized. · the gap between words and deeds, assurances and actions, is narrowed down and an enabling environment is created by removing the obstacles that stand in the way of growth of micro-credit industry.
The Islamic banking system has an in-built feature that promotes financing activities for the poor, as it resides within a financial trasactory underpinned by the forces of Shariah injunctions. These Shariah injunctions facilitate, social justice and equal distribution of wealth prohibits involvement in illegal activities which are detrimental to social and environmental well-being.
ASA has contributed significantly to alleviate poverty. ASA has been widely recognized one of the world's largest sustainable, cost-effective and fully grants free Micro Finance Institutions (MFI).
So government needs to partonize Micro Finance Institutions’ movement,as they can expand their activities in our country. In our country drug addiction problem is increasing day by day.As our country is nearer to the so-called golden triangle, the drug supplier use our country as a corridor as well as a place of selling drugs.Our government should be more strict in this matter and take necessary steps to prevent underworld criminals to save the future generation of the country. It is also needed to strengthen family and social values and religious ethics in order to maintain a stable and drug-free society.
Table 1.1.1 Labour Force, Employment and Unemployment During 1972 to 1997 (million person-years) Year|Labour Force |Employment |Unemployment |Unemployment Rate (%) |
||Domestic |Foreign|Total |||
1972/73 |21.38 |13.09 |--- |13.09 |8.29|38.78 |
1977/78|24.10|16.04 |0.05 |16.09 |8.01|33.24|
1979/80 |25.29|16.09|0.05 |16.14 |9.15|36.18 |
1984/85|29.50 |18.97|0.32|19.29|10.21|34.61 |
1989/90 |34.80 |22.82|0.43 |23.25|11.55 |33.19|
1994/95|40.47 |26.88|0.95|27.83 |12.64 |31.23 |
1995/96 |41.47|28.18 |1.14 |29.32|12.38 |29.69|
1996/97 |42.97|29.62 |1.34 |30.96|12.01|27.95|
Source The Fifth Five Year Plan for 1997-2002
Table 1.1.2 Under-employed person aged 10 years and over in 1995-96 (million)
Category|Bangladesh|Urban|Rural|
|BS|M|F|BS|M|F|BS|M|F|
Employed Person*|54.6|33.8|20.8|9.7|1.9|19.6|44.8|17.0|37.9|
Employed Person (<35 hrs/week)|18.9|4.2|14.7|7.0|0.7|10.0|26.7|3.5|13.1|
Unemployment Rate**|34.6|12.4|70.7|2.7|1.2|44.4|18.1|13.5|74.6|
(BS=Both Sex, M=Male, F=Female)
Source BBS, Labour Force Survey 1995-96
[->0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Labour_Organization
1. PART – A
i. Preface ii. Acknowledgement iii. Objectives of the study iv. Methodology of the study
2. Unemployment
2.1 Historical Background of Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh: 2.2 Measurement 2.3 Causes of Unemployment Problem
2.4 Effect of Unemployment Problem
2.5 Some recommendations to reduce Unemployment
2.6 Government Policy towards Unemployment 2.7 Private Organizations & NGO Activities
3. Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation 3.1 Grameen Bank & role of Grameen Bank in poverty alleviation. 3.2 Islami Bank & role of Islami Bank in poverty alleviation. 3.3 ASA & role of ASA in poverty alleviation. 4. Drug Addiction 4.1 Types of Drug 4.2 The Dangers and Destruction Caused by Drugs 4.3 Resistance to Drug Use
5. Conclusion
Preface
First of all I would like to be grateful to the Allah, The merciful and the benevolent that have enable me to complete this assignment.
This assignment is a part of the academic discipline, for the BBA student has been designed to acquire practical knowledge. It is expected that the integration of knowledge in theories and practices will enable me to become effective through this assignment. I have got the chance to make an assignment on “Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh, Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation, Drug Addiction is a Social Problem in Bangladesh” that helps me to acquire some experience which is expected that to enrich my knowledge. Finally, it is my earnest and sincere hope that this assignment on “Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh, Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation, Drug Addiction is a Social Problem in Bangladesh” would be found useful by the individuals who want to know about the situation of Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh, Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation, and Drug Addiction is a Social Problem in Bangladesh.
Acknowledgement
I am grateful to our honorable teacher who has helped and encouraged me at each and every step. At the very outset I extend my heartiest gratitude to our honorable teacher Feroza Akter Khanam , Assistant Professor , Department Of Finance & Banking, University of Chittagong, for her massive support, supervision, guidance and cooperation. We would like to thank my friends to cooperate me during the preparation of the assignment. My thanks also go to the composers of various articles and papers that we gone through. I deeply acknowledge her contribution
Tahmina Akter
ID: 09303112
3rd Year (Mid-Term) BBA
Department of Finance & Banking
University of Chittagong
Objectives of the study
The main objective of preparing this assignment is:
· To identify the unemployment as a social & national problem
· To identify reason for unemployment problem
· To recognize solution for unemployment problem,
· To recognize role of micro credit in poverty alleviation,
· To identify drug addiction as a social and national problem and way to solve this problem. Methodology of the study In order to complete this report we had to work hard for researching over the taxation and economic system of our country. For this we collected a number of data and statistics from various sources. To fulfill our objectives we collected data from primary and secondary source:
A) Primary data collected through:
1. Observation
2. Class lecture
3. Seminar
B) Secondary data collected from:
1. Various website
2. Books and Journals
3. Financial reports
2) Unemployment
Unemployment is the synonym of joblessness. By this term we understand a state of affairs in which a man or an able work force has to remain jobless in spite of the fact that he desires to get a job to earn his living. In other words, it is a situation in which aggregate employment remains static in response to an increased demand for its output. As a day’s pass, demand for more jobs increases. If there are not enough jobs in comparison with the demand, then the problem of unemployment occurs.
Unemployment means the state of being without any work both for the educated and uneducated for earning one’s livelihood. Unemployment problem has become a great concern all over the world. But nowhere in the world is this problem as acute as in Bangladesh. Thousands of people in our country are without any job.
Unemployment is a great concern in Bangladesh. Every year hundreds of thousands student are coming out from college and university. Though it is one of the major responsibilities of the Government to provide job to those young generation but the Government is failed to meet the job demand among the large population. Only a tiny fraction of total jobless is managed by different government offices and private organization but a majority remain unemployed. 1. Historical Background of Unemployment Problem in Bangladesh:
Historically for a long time British administration was the main cause of this problem. After ending Mughol regime when British came in Sub continent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh) they started to do business, they exploited the sub-continent. They did not establish any Industry which is helpful to remove the unemployment problem.
After 1971 Bangladesh has been facing political crisis badly. As a result no government can take long term massive step to remove the unemployment problem. Within 37 years Bangladesh has experience about eight new governments and two assassination incident at the top level country leader.
The 1995-96 Labor Force Survey (LFS) of Bangladesh considered a person of age 10 years and over as unemployed if he/she did not work at all during the preceding week of the survey but was actively looking for work or was available for work.
The total civilian labour force of the country in 1996-97 was estimated at 42.97 million, of which 34.7 million were male and 8.27 million were female.The 1995-96 LFS estimated the female participation rate at 18.1%.
The labour force in Bangladesh grew faster than the population and had almost doubled between the year of independence and mid 1990s. The employment on man-year basis has, however, increased and the absolute unemployment, as well as underemployment had reduced. The rate of underemployment was 38.78% in 1972-73 and 27.95% in 1996-97. Figures on un- and underemployment vary in official documents as may observed from a comparison between tables 1 and 2.
Since agriculture has not been able to absorb increased labour force there has been large migration from rural to urban areas. However, agriculture still employs the highest number of labour (63.2%). Informal labour force dominates the labour market. The Labour Force Survey, 1995/96 showed that about 40.1% were unpaid family workers. 17.9% were day labour, 12.4% were regularly employed workers and 29.6% were self-employed.
More than one-third of the employed persons both at the national and rural levels is underemployed. The underemployment is much higher in the female population than in the male population. Of the unpaid family workers 77.9% are female. 2. Measurement
Though many people care about the number of unemployed individuals, economists typically focus on the unemployment rate. This corrects for the normal increase in the number of people employed due to increases in population and increases in the labour force relative to the population. The unemployment rate is expressed as a percentage, and is calculated as follows:
As defined by the International Labor Organization[->0], "unemployed workers" are those who are currently not working but are willing and able to work for pay, currently available to work, and have actively searched for work. Individuals who are actively seeking job placement must make the effort to: be in contact with an employer, have job interviews, contact job placement agencies, send out resumes, submit applications, respond to advertisements, or some other means of active job searching within the prior four weeks. Simply looking at advertisements and not responding will not count as actively seeking job placement. Since not all unemployment may be "open" and counted by government agencies, official statistics on unemployment may not be accurate.
2.3) Causes of unemployment problem: 2.4) Effect of unemployment problem:
In Social & Economic Life: Unemployment has a far reaching effect on the economy of the country. In fact, unemployed are social parasites. They drain upon the natural wealth hut can contribute noting for the economic progress of the country. They themselves also feel uneasy over the situation. The Unemployment problem deserves emphasis from two points of views, economic and socio-political. From an economic point of view, if this valuable work force could be used, it would be very useful for the economy. The increase in the national income and investment could have been much greater than, what we actually have. From the socio-political point of view, the failure of secure full employment is even more serious. The existence of a large scale unemployed people creates a potentially explosive socio- political situation. Besides, this may lead them to involve themselves in various anti-social activities and crimes.
In Individual & Family Life: Unemployment brings starvation to the individual as well as the family and crimes, discontent and vice to the society. An unemployed man leads a life of dishonor. He loses all sense of self-prestige and every one considers him as an object of pity.
So we should try heart and should to get rid of this unwanted problem. The government must adopt all possible measures to exploit the available resources and wealth and try to maximize the production by minimum investment. Effective measures must have to be taken to keep the population growth under control. It we can successfully realize our plans and programmes, we hope that we will be able to reduce this problem though not completely remove it.
All possible efforts must be made to solve the problem. Though it is hard to uproot the curse like unemployment but it is not impossible. To remove the problem industrialization should be done rapidly, so that more new employment could be generated. Besides, more small and cottage industries should be set. People have to change their outlook and attitude. The Govt. should also help them by providing interest free loans this purpose. 5. Some recommendations to reduce Unemployment:
Create a National Office of Employment to develop long term strategies and oversight of the Bangladesh labor market in order to track trends, analyze data, research emerging problems, and prepare early interventions. Identify growing and potential industries and the skills they will need in future staff. Design a plan which allows for the rapid retargeting of training courses as Community Colleges and vocational schools are traditionally 5 to 15 years behind current needs. Renovate the processes of State Unemployment Offices by implementing coordinated support programs in which workers participate as part of receiving unemployment benefits and employers participate as a means of meeting their future needs for staff. Provide incentives for employers to hire more part-time workers
2.6) Government Policy towards Unemployment:
The government has several projects to increase employment among the mass. The main objective of the government policy is to create self-employment by training & encouraging small business among the mass. Government has undertaken a high budget Youth Training Program to create trained workforce in the country. Government’s road & highway development projects provide jobs to many. Women development ministry has training centers for women to create self employment. Bangladesh Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET) also work to provide workers who want to work abroad. Ministry of Labor and Employments vision is to reduce unemployment & poverty through productive employment & human resource development by maintaining good industrial relation & relation development between workers & employers. Their plan is to create employment opportunities, create semi-skilled & skilled manpower, Enhance productivity of Factories by creating Friendly working environment between workers & Employers, Ensure welfare of workers in different industrial area & implement Labor-Laws to fix up minimum wages of labor & in severe cases ensure justice through Labor Court. 2.7) Private Organizations & NGO Activities: Several private organizations such as The Grameen Bank, Proshika,
Save the Children, Brac, ASA,WBTF, etc. are working in the country to increase employment rate. Grameen Bank founder, Dr. Younus& his microcredit scheme has earned its reputation worldwide. Grameen Bank allows loan to the poor &helpless people, especially women of villages. They encourage them to invest this money for productivepurposes. Their target is to self-employ the unemployed. They give loan for small business, buying lands,making firms, etc. Microcredit policy gives loans without through trust. This helps those people whohave nothing to bail & enables them make enough capital to start business. The NGOs gives training tomen-women & promote cottage industries. This allows them to be self-dependent & creates more jobs. There are several privately run employment agencies & job sites that provide job, mostly for the educated & students.
3) Microcredit & Poverty Alleviation:
Micro-credit:
Micro-credit refers to programs that are poverty focused and that provide financial and business services to very poor persons for generation of self-employment and income. Credit is a powerful instrument to fight poverty. The role of micro-credit in reducing poverty is now well recognized all over the world. It is no longer the subject matter of micro-credit practitioners alone. Governments, donors, development agencies, banks, universities, consultants, philanthropists and others have increasing interest in it.
With the advent of Grameen Bank and other such programs micro-credit obtained a new identity, a new meaning and a place in development literature. It is no more a mere concept. It is now a worldwide movement. The total outreach of Microcredit
Programs (MCP) as compiled by the Micro-credit Summit (MCS) is 54.9 million clients including 26.8 million very poor when they started with the program. According to a guess estimate of Muhammad Yunus, however, the number of poorest clients families reached by MCPs would be at least 35 million by the end of 2002. This includes those who have not been reported by the MCS.
Credit creates opportunities for self-employment rather than waiting for employment to be created. It liberates both poor and women from the clutches of poverty. It brings the poor into the income stream. Given the access to credit under an appropriate institutional structure and arrangement, one can do whatever one does best and earn money for it. One can overcome poverty. One can become the architect of one–s destiny and the agent of change not only for one–s family but also for the society.
Poverty and Micro-credit:
There is an on going debate whether credit alone or credit plus is needed for poverty reduction. There are views that credit alone on its own is inadequate to fight poverty. The need for other services is also important in this respect. Such views, although, do not negate the role of credit, fail to appreciate the role of credit on its own merit.
Nobody says that credit alone is cure for all. Most of the practitioners believe that credit plays a vital role as an instrument of intervention for a poor person to discover her potential and to stride for better living. Muhammad Yunus advocates that Credit is a human right. Once this right is established, the entitlement to other rights for leading a dignified life becomes easier. It empowers to break the vicious cycle of poverty by instantaneously creating self-employment and generating income. When in the ultimate analysis nothing can be said to be panacea, by overemphasising that micro-credit is not a panacea is in a sense overreacting and underestimating the role of credit as an instrument to combat poverty. Micro-credit is itself a very powerful tool. But if it is combined with others, it is definitely more empowering. How micro-credit can reduce poverty may better be understood by understanding conceptually the mechanisms by which financial services can affect the lives of the poor. It is important to consider the fulfillment of basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, health, education and psychological well-being), the means to achieve welfare at present and in the future, social networks and empowerment and vulnerability to risk.
Poverty reduction may also be considered from both short term and long term perspectives. In the short term it can be understood with reference to individual borrowers, their households and also the society at large. Different studies conducted in Bangladesh and elsewhere show that there is positive correlation between micro-credit programs and their accrued benefits in terms of employment, income generation and promotion of social indicators.
Micro-credit Impact:
A recent study concluded by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and the World Bank in Bangladesh provides a strong indication that Micro-credit do help the poor in consumption smoothing as well as in asset building. The study also suggests that micro-finance programs promote investment in human capital like schooling. It raises awareness to reproductive health and increases both individual and household welfare.
If one considers the benefits of micro-credit programs enjoyed by different categories of poor one gets mixed feelings. The ongoing debate whether microcredit programs benefit the extreme poor deserves critical evaluation. While many argue that the extreme poor get little benefit from it as they are mostly excluded, a recent World Bank study in Bangladesh has come with encouraging results. It reconfirms that micro-finance matters a lot for the very poor borrowers and also for the local economy. It helps reduce extreme poverty more than moderate poverty. In order to meet the clients needs and satisfaction, it is important that MCPs should have considered appropriate product development that will serve different needs of clients and enables them to improve the quality of their lives. Given the assumption that at the entry point all clients should come from the poorest, the need for developing different products for different levels of borrowers (1st , 2nd,
3rd time loanees and so on) is also important. Once this, as well as, appropriate mechanism for credit delivery and recovery are in place, it will not only reduce individual and aggregate poverty (may not be very significant) but will also help create a strong foundation for sustainable operation of MCPs.
How micro-credit programs impact the lives of the poor, can be learnt from the impact studies of Grameen Bank (GB), its partners and others who are poverty focused. 3.1)Grameen Bank :
Grameen Bank, the pioneering institution in the field of poverty finance is now serving 2.6 million borrowers with 95% as women. All it clients at the time of their first loans were among the poorest. Given the access to credit, they have an enabling environment to strive for better life to cross poverty line and to continue to improve. The Grameen Generalised System (Grameen Bank II) provided them more options and flexibility. It is tailor-made and tension free. It takes care of many dimensions of poverty reduction. Its impact on the lives of its borrowers may be examined from the economic, social and political points of views.
Grameen Bank (GB) has reversed conventional banking practice by removing the need for collateral and created a banking system based on mutual trust, accountability, participation and creativity. GB provides credit to the poorest of the poor in rural Bangladesh, without any collateral. At GB, credit is a cost effective weapon to fight poverty and it serves as a catalyst in the over all development of socio-economic conditions of the poor who have been kept outside the banking orbit on the ground that they are poor and hence not bankable. Professor Muhammad Yunus, the founder of "Grameen Bank" and its Managing Director, reasoned that if financial resources can be made available to the poor people on terms and conditions that are appropriate and reasonable, "these millions of small people with their millions of small pursuits can add up to create the biggest development wonder."
Professor Muhammad Yunus is the managing director and founder of Grameen Bank, which currently operates 1,148 branches providing credit to over 2.4 million poor people residing in 39,857 villages in Bangladesh. Grameen Bank was his creation and he continues to be a strong advocate of micro-credit, arguing that it is only through collateral-free credit, made available in particular to poor women, that poverty can be alleviated.
He started the Grameen Bank Project in 1976 and saw it to its completion in 1983, and still holds the post of managing director in the organization.
In an exclusive interview with Asia Society, Professor Yunus discusses the importance of micro-credit for poverty alleviation in Bangladesh and elsewhere.
As of October, 2011, it has 8.349 million borrowers, 97 percent of whom are women. With 2,565 branches, GB provides services in 81,379 villages, covering more than 97 percent of the total villages in Bangladesh. Economic Effects :
Grameen has been widely researched and recognized for making a difference in the lives of its members. Studies show that the borrowers of Grameen Bank are steadily moving out of poverty. One such study shows that it is at the rate of 5% a year. According to another study based on a household survey in an area where
Grameen has been operating for more than a decade, about 50% of the Grameen households have crossed the poverty line. Another 25% were about to cross it and the rest was struggling mainly because of health reasons.
A study examining the economic effects of Grameen on the life of its borrowers, compared the situations ‘before’– and ‘after’, ‘with’ and ‘without’ Grameen. It considered the effects of Grameen operation on capital accumulation, employment, income and poverty alleviation. The study found that without any capital base at the beginning, the Grameen borrowers started accumulating capital as they joined Grameen which has not been possible by others. Grameen loan is required to be paid back in small installments as per agreement. The borrowers pay the installment from generated income, leaving the original capital intact.
Their capital base usually increases in large amounts as they go for subsequent loans that enable them to go for medium and long-term investments.
The study also found that 31 percent of the borrowers reported themselves as unemployed before joining Grameen. Grameen created new employment for them and especially for the female members who were earning nothing before. The effect of Grameen loans on reducing unemployment is impressive. The borrowers were found less underemployed than before. More than 91 percent of the borrowers in the survey area reported that Grameen had made a positive contribution to their standard of living. The bank has been able to lift a significant proportion of its borrowers and their household members out of poverty. A World
Bank study found that profits from Grameen-financed businesses were increasing borrowers– consumption by 18% per year, and that the percentage of Grameen borrowers living in extreme poverty was reduced by 70% within 4.2 years of joining. According to a recent survey conducted by Grameen Bank the cumulative percentage of borrowers who have crossed the poverty line until 2002 is over 46%.
Such findings of the above mentioned studies are corroborated by many other studies conducted in different areas and at different points of time.
Grameen is contributing directly and indirectly to the gross domestic product of
Bangladesh. During the period 1994-1996, its net contribution to GDP as a percentage of total GDP in current prices has been more than one percent.
Grameen borrowers have been found to improve their conditions in terms of housing and clothing too. They can afford more and warm clothes during winter seasons. Till the end of April 2003, they have built 566333 houses with housing loans from Grameen.Women are the owners of 95% of these houses. They hold the title for the land of these houses. This was unthinkable for them before they joined Grameen. 3.2) Islami Bank Ltd.
The establishment of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited on March 13, 1983, is the true reflection of this inner urge of its people, which started functioning with effect from March 30, 1983. This Bank is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. It is committed to conduct all banking and investment activities on the basis of interest-free profit-loss sharing system. In doing so, it has unveiled a new horizon and ushered in a new silver lining of hope towards materializing a long cherished dream of the people of Bangladesh for doing their banking transactions in line with what is prescribed by Islam. With the active co-operation and participation of Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and some other Islamic banks, financial institutions, government bodies and eminent personalities of the Middle East and the Gulf countries, Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited has by now earned the unique position of a leading private commercial bank in Bangladesh.
With 251 branches and 10,068 staffs, IBBL is the largest private banking network in Bangladesh.
Micro-Credit through Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL)
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) started its functioning on 12th August 1983. The IBBL is the first interest free bank in the South Asia. Now it has 200 branches (IBBL, 2008). It ranked the highest in foreign transactions and achieved the highest grade (A+) in CAMEL (C= Capital, A=Asset, M=Management, E= Efficiency and L= Liquidity) rating. The functions of the Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited are as under: (a) to maintain all types of deposit accounts; (b) to make investment; (c ) to conduct foreign exchange business; (d) to extend other banking services and (e) to conduct social welfare activities through Islami Bank Foundation and so on.
Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) envisages an economic system based on equity and justice. Taking into consideration that the majority of the population below poverty line lives in rural Bangladesh, the Bank has devised a “Rural Development Scheme” (RDS) with a view to creating employment opportunity for them and reduce their poverty through income generation activities. The IBBL through its RDS project has been implementing integrated programs for the landless poor, wage labours and marginal farmers aimed at meeting their basic needs and promoting their comprehensive development. In order to consolidate their economic base, invested money should be used in income generating activities. The RDS has been working for the realization of that objective to create income generating activities and productive self-employment opportunities through extension of investment for the development of rural area and thereby contribute to the alleviation of rural poverty. Investment is allowed for the purpose of production of crops, off-farm income activities like service, trading, processing and manufacturing, shop keeping, peddling and rural transport like rickshaw, rickshaw-van, cart, irrigation equipment, hand tube-well, housing materials etc., Al together about 343 types of non-agricultural economic activities have so far been covered.
Investment financing under RDS program of IBBL is generally collateral-free. But fish culture in ponds and the purchase of agricultural and irrigation implements require large amount of collateral in the form of an equitable mortgage. In this process investment is provided to individual who formed a group as prescribed by the RDS Program. Each member of the group is required to provide a personal guarantee for his group. Investment financing starts after a three-month observation of the group members in terms of regularity in their attendance in weekly group meetings, centre meetings, and the deposit of their personal savings. Two members from each group selected by the group members are considered for investment financing. The rest of the group members become eligible for financing after the numbers who have already received loan have duly paid their 2 or 3 installments. The loan is approved by the investment committee, headed by the respective branch manager of the Bank. The investment committee meets once in a month regularly to perform its duties.
The following Islamic modes of investment are applied for investment financing of the group members:
a. Bai-Muajjal
Under this mode bank sells goods to the client under deferred payment basis. The payment is made in lump sum or in fixed installments within a predetermined future date.
b. Hire-Purchase Shirkatul Melk (HPSM)
Under this mode bank may supply implements/equipments on rental basis. The ownership of the equipment remains with the Bank but the client is authorized to posses the equipment for certain period.
c. Mudaraba TR
Under this mode bank may supply capital to the mudarib (agent) for conducting business, purchase of inputs, commodities etc. to be repaid on future date.
d. Musharaka
Under this mode the bank extends investment on profit and loss sharing basis. The capital sharing ratio will be maximum 80:20 between Bank and the client. The profit is to be negotiated and will be determined so as to ensure minimum 12% rate of return. e. Bai-Salam
Under this mode bank executes advance purchase contract with the client and make payment against purchase of the product by the client.
f. Murabaha TR
Under this sale contract bank purchases a certain commodity for the client as requested and specified by him and deliver the same to the client on payment at a pre-determined price.
3.3) ASA, Bangladesh
‘ASA’ has the reputation of being the most rapidly expanding and best-managed MFI in the world– MICROSAVE / UNDP / CGAP
· ASA has emerged as one of the largest and most efficient Microfinance Institution (MFI) in the world and has been working relentlessly to assist the poor since its inception in 1978.
· The major drive behind ASA is to gradually eradicate poverty from society.
· As of June 2008, ASA has successfully extended its outreach in Bangladesh through 3,324 branches and its 25,125 staff work relentlessly to serve more than 7.13 million clients in 72,204 villages.
ASA has been working relentlessly to reduce poverty since its inception in 1978.
The formal banking sector in developing countries, like Bangladesh, does not typically provide financial services to the poor. This sector concentrates on large loans to the upper class, thereby completely excluding low income groups. Sustainable Microfinance Model
ASA –SUSTAINABILITY
ASA has been widely recognized one of the world's largest sustainable, cost-effective and fully grants free Micro Finance Institutions (MFI).
Over the last 16 years, ASA has achieved highest Operational Self Sufficiency (OSS) and Financial Self Sufficiency (FSS) within a short period of time.
ASA cost effective model also proven itself in different countries in Asia and Africa. ASA branches have proved its capacity to reach a break even point within a year.
ASA has maintained high self sufficiency from the beginning of operations and it continue to date.
ASA has been rated to have the highest OSS and FSS compare with Global MFIs and Asian Largest FIs. Micro-finance Module:
· Captures daily loan/savings/security disbursement and collection information
· Client and group management
· Produces loan officer and branch performance measure / monitoring reports
ASA's Contribution to Microfinance Sector
Result of an Impact Assessment
An impact assessment of the ASA microfinance programs has recently been carried out from the ASA Research and Documentation Cell. The assessment covered the long-term members, we continued minimum 3 years membership (from 2005 to 2007), in the credit program of ASA.
The assessment was carried out to gauge the impact of the ASA microfinance programs in the lives of its clients, that is, changes brought about in their day-to-day lives through utilization of microfinance facilities provided by ASA.
With a view to selecting a sample size, multi-stage sampling of management units from the administrative divisions to members has been done. From all of the 6 administrative divisions of Bangladesh, 12 districts were taken by selecting 2 districts from each division. Then 4 ASA branches from each district were selected. Among the branches, 2 were taken from rural and 2 from urban areas. 4 Loan Officers from each branch were taken, i.e., 4x48=192 Loan Officers were selected and 4 groups of each Loan Officer were taken. At this 4x192 = 768 Groups came under the study. Each group has 20 members on average, that is, 768 x 20= 15,360 members in total. 5 (25%) Members from each Group, i.e. 5x768 = 3,840 Members were taken as the sample size.
· Selection process: Members were selected for interview through a systematic sampling of odd numbers such as 1, 3,5,7,9 and so on.
· Method of data collection: Interview method (individual) and tool for data collection was structured questionnaire.
· Time: September to December 2007.
The microfinance movement, however, has shown that there is a thriving market among the poor when financial products cater to their specific needs. The poor are a quite active group in any economy. ASA has shown that their needs can be met while at the same time making the providing institution profitable as well.
4)Drug Addiction:
In pharmacology, drug is a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being. Drugs may be prescribed in a limited dose for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders. But whenever we use it by exceeding the prescribed limit, then it shows its adverse effect and started to work in accordance with Einstein’s theory: “Every thing has its same and opposite reaction”. The adverse effect is nothing but addiction. Here addiction is the negative aspects of drug. Addiction level of drugs increase with each day of use.
The term “addiction” is used in many contexts to describe an obsession, compulsion, or excessive physical dependence or psychological dependence, such as: drug addiction, alcoholism, tobacco dependency, compulsive overeating, problem gambling, computer addiction, etc. In other words, addiction has many forms, some of them related to substances such as drugs or alcohol, while others are related to extreme psychological dependence of the individual on behaviors such as gambling, overeating, and increasingly internet surfing.
Many addicts can become re-addicted. Many of their religious and moral values are not strong enough. Drug treatment and rehabilitation centers may be attached to mosques and other places of worship. Induction of religious values is a significant part of the treatment. The whole course of treatment of drug addiction revolves around the restoration of social, community and religious values in the patient. Addicts are many a time found to be oblivious about religious imperatives and rituals.
In recent years Drug Addiction has significantly increased in Bangladesh. This agent of human devastation has spread its tentacles worldwide and also in our country. Every intelligent and humane person in the world society and international organisations such as the UN and WHO are alarmed by the present rate of addiction. In our country the regular seizures of stocks of heroin and other hard drugs by the police and narcotics department gives us an indication of the extent of addiction in our country. Nowadays nearly ten per cent of outpatients in our hospitals are cases of drug addiction involving heroin, ganja and phensidyl. These are generally youths and young men between 15-30 years of age and come from all strata of the society. But there are adolescents below 15 years of age and men and women over 30. Hospital surveys show that average age of drug addicts is 22. The addicts are students, professionals, businessmen, laborers, rickshawallahs and from other professions. Students are most affected and drugs have caused deterioration in standards of education and students have also given up going to schools and colleges. These addicts are turning to various criminal activities, in order to procure drugs. 4.1) Types of Drugs:
Generally speaking drugs are substances that affect the physical and mental condition of persons significantly and adversely Any substance that can lead to addiction, misuse and dependence is a drug. Addiction level of drugs increase with each day of use. If drugs are not available, the patient shows critical withdrawal symptoms when immediate medical care is needed to prevent physical and mental deterioration, even death. World Health Organization (WHO) defines Drug; Drug is a chemical substance of synthetic, semi synthetic or natural origin intended for diagnostic, therapeutic or palliative use or for modifying physiological functions of man and animal.
Drug impacts directly influence the economic and social aspects of a country and physically to a human body. Drugs are separated into two categories – Soft drugs: Alcohol;| Cigarettes; | Marijuana; | Glue, Hash etc.|
Hard drugs:
Ecstasy;| Speed; | Amphetamine| Cocaine;|
There are many types of drugs available use in Bangladesh:
Opium |Bhang|
Heroin |Yaba |
Phensidyl |Vayagra |
Tidijesic|Tranquilizer |
Pethidine |Sleeping Pill|
Cannabis|Seduxene |
Ganja |Diazapam |
Chorosh |Dexpotent|
Drug Addiction Symptoms:
· The addict develops a craving for the drug, and he spends all his efforts procuring it.
· Drug tolerance in users leads to increased dosage of drugs needed to provide the same degree of enjoyment and kick.
· Without drugs the addict loses his mental and physical abilities to work and enjoy life which is termed as psychological dependence and physical dependence.
Reasons for Drug Addiction
In brief the reasons determined through research, include:
· Curiosity and excitement through use
· Despair and frustration among the youth
· Some patients are addicts because they try to follow the western culture of drugs and enjoyment of life.
· All drug addicts in our country are afraid of social stigma more than the threat from the law. 4.2)The Dangers and Destruction Caused by Drugs
Drug addiction beings on rapid erosion of educational and cultural, moral and family values. The addicts lose their professional and educational capabilities, self-dignity, and get involved in serious or petty criminal activities. The sole aim in life of an addict becomes the procurement and use of drugs. Other aims and objectives in life are thrown by the roadside. Besides, dread diseases such as Hepatitis, HIV/AIDS can easily attack drug addicts through use of injectible drugs.
In our country, heroin is mostly smoked within aluminum foil or cigarette paper, but in other countries this is injected. Intravenous injection of pethidine/ morphine and now tadigesic brand of riknomar penic. These are extremely dangerous drugs and increases addiction manifold. Injections through infected needles can cause diseases of the liver, brain, heart, lungs and spinal cord. Normal medication also interacts with heroin and cause many complications, which many addicts do now know about. Such interactions may also cause e death.
Heroin addiction lowers mental enthusiasm and efforts and physical ability The addict loses contact with normal society and becomes self and drug-centered. He engages in all types of activities to obtain money to buy drugs. A Heroin addict may need about Taka 500 worth of the drug a day. He neglects the needs of the family, and those are non-earning may sell off family assets. They also go out on the streets for mugging and dacoity
Words of Caution for the Parents
Children are the beloved of the parents. Suspicions of one's child engaged in immoral and criminal activities are a source of the utmost heartache for the parents. Yet for this very reason, children must be kept under close observation. Behavioral and emotional changes are common in the adolescent and young men. But long-standing changes and rapid shifts in mood needs specialist doctor's attention and investigation. Heroin addicts live in a dream world, unconnected with realism and the environment around them. They lose concentration, live alone, and are irritated by interference and contact with non-addicts or other addicts. They rub their eyes and legs, and lose appetite rapidly.
If you come to know that your son or daughter is a heroin addict, do not lose calm and temper. Try to take stock of the situation and seek medical attention immediately, without trying to forcibly rid your children of the habit. Symptoms of Heroin Addiction
· Your shy child may become aggressive about money. Keep your son/daughter under observation.
· If you suspect anything, examine their rooms in their absence. Burnt paper, empty cigarette packets, oily scraps of paper are some signs.
· Rapid weight loss of your child . Avoidance of any reply to your queries about weight loss . Get answers from them and keep under observation
· Uncertain temper, loss of appetite, lack of sleep, hand tremors.
· Regular onset of fever at a fixed time. Watery eyes.
Withdrawal symptoms vary with patients according to dosage and the patient's personality. Withdrawal symptoms start four hours after the last dosage of heroin. Eight hours later the patients yawns, sweats, with watery eyes and nose. 6 hours later his muscles start aching. No appetite at all. Within 24 to 36 hours the patient may have fever. No sleep and rise in blood pressure and pulse count results. Between 36 to 48 hours the patient may vomit with diarrhoea. Some also ejaculate. The symptoms slowly disappear. After one week the patient feels better. But normalcy returns after two to four weeks.
Treatment: The main points in the treatment of drug addiction are to reduce use of substances, to increase public awareness and social resistance and treatment and rehabilitation of the drug addict in specialized institutions. 4.3) Resistance to Drug Use
· Dissemination of Information: The target group has to be made aware and fully informed about drugs, its misuse and horrifying consequences. Educational institution, student and youth organizations should be involved in group discussion and meetings, with advocacy and awareness programmes through posters, slogans, radio and TV programme and various mass communication agenda, including the print media. Community leaders, politicians, sport and movie personalities can take active part in the campaign against drug addiction. Organizations to resist drug addiction must be built up by the students and youths
· Alternative Programmes: The inherent strengths of the youth in society have to be put to constructive work. Monotony, idleness, unemployment cause despair and frustration in the patient, and to seek solace elsewhere the target group look to drugs for comfort and to forget the trouble and tension of everyday life. Monotony and frustration may be eliminated through sports and games, physical training and competitive games, social work which make the youth adjust to the environment. Student life exposes the youth to many social pressures which leads to despair and tensions and the need for drugs to forget the stresses of modern life. Counseling of students on mental and physical health and tackling of various problem at school and college is required. Medical care is extremely and urgently necessary for the addicts. Withdrawal symptoms hinder the giving up of the habit. The first step in treatment is to stop drugs and treat for the withdrawal symptoms. Various physical symptoms of withdrawal have to be treated at this stage. Stopping the taking of heroin has to be under the supervision of a specialist. To get the patient to agree to treatment for addiction is the first step in the treatment. The patient will try to make excuses to avoid treatment. Sometime the patient stops taking requisite medication. The giving up of heroin without specialist advice is a waste of time, energy and money.
The Role of Religious Values
Many addicts can become re-addicted. Many of their religious and moral values are not strong enough. Drug treatment and rehabilitation centers may be attached to mosques and other places of worship. Induction of religious values is a significant part of the treatment. The whole course of treatment of drug addiction revolves around the restoration of social, community and religious values in the patient. Addicts are many a time found to be oblivious about religious imperatives and rituals.
Every disease has a cure. We must come out of this monopolistic deadly game. Some ‘entry barriers’ and ‘exit points’ are given in the recommendation chapter. But that is not enough. A more intensive research, action program, and social movement are needed. Conclusion:
Unemployment is a great curse to a nation. We cannot expect the development of our country leaving its millions of the people unemployment to survive as a boastful nation. We should make all out efforts to get rid of this curse. Poverty reduction is undoubtedly a doable proposition. It can be significantly and rapidly reduced with Grameen type micro-credit programs provided:
· required funds are available to the nascent micro-credit industry at reasonable costs, · a professionally, competent and motivated staff is engaged in performing the operational tasks,
· the communication or knowledge gap between donors and practitioners is minimized. · the gap between words and deeds, assurances and actions, is narrowed down and an enabling environment is created by removing the obstacles that stand in the way of growth of micro-credit industry.
The Islamic banking system has an in-built feature that promotes financing activities for the poor, as it resides within a financial trasactory underpinned by the forces of Shariah injunctions. These Shariah injunctions facilitate, social justice and equal distribution of wealth prohibits involvement in illegal activities which are detrimental to social and environmental well-being.
ASA has contributed significantly to alleviate poverty. ASA has been widely recognized one of the world's largest sustainable, cost-effective and fully grants free Micro Finance Institutions (MFI).
So government needs to partonize Micro Finance Institutions’ movement,as they can expand their activities in our country. In our country drug addiction problem is increasing day by day.As our country is nearer to the so-called golden triangle, the drug supplier use our country as a corridor as well as a place of selling drugs.Our government should be more strict in this matter and take necessary steps to prevent underworld criminals to save the future generation of the country. It is also needed to strengthen family and social values and religious ethics in order to maintain a stable and drug-free society.
Table 1.1.1 Labour Force, Employment and Unemployment During 1972 to 1997 (million person-years) Year|Labour Force |Employment |Unemployment |Unemployment Rate (%) |
||Domestic |Foreign|Total |||
1972/73 |21.38 |13.09 |--- |13.09 |8.29|38.78 |
1977/78|24.10|16.04 |0.05 |16.09 |8.01|33.24|
1979/80 |25.29|16.09|0.05 |16.14 |9.15|36.18 |
1984/85|29.50 |18.97|0.32|19.29|10.21|34.61 |
1989/90 |34.80 |22.82|0.43 |23.25|11.55 |33.19|
1994/95|40.47 |26.88|0.95|27.83 |12.64 |31.23 |
1995/96 |41.47|28.18 |1.14 |29.32|12.38 |29.69|
1996/97 |42.97|29.62 |1.34 |30.96|12.01|27.95|
Source The Fifth Five Year Plan for 1997-2002
Table 1.1.2 Under-employed person aged 10 years and over in 1995-96 (million)
Category|Bangladesh|Urban|Rural|
|BS|M|F|BS|M|F|BS|M|F|
Employed Person*|54.6|33.8|20.8|9.7|1.9|19.6|44.8|17.0|37.9|
Employed Person (<35 hrs/week)|18.9|4.2|14.7|7.0|0.7|10.0|26.7|3.5|13.1|
Unemployment Rate**|34.6|12.4|70.7|2.7|1.2|44.4|18.1|13.5|74.6|
(BS=Both Sex, M=Male, F=Female)
Source BBS, Labour Force Survey 1995-96
[->0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Labour_Organization
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