La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(25 janvier --- 1 février)

Selon un reportage, le gouvernement du Népal a divulgué son enquête sur l'accident d'un vol de US Bangla Airlines.L'enquête a mis l'accent sur la condition psychologique de pilote pendant le vol. L'autorité bangladaise a accusé le gouvernement népalais pour ne pas avoir mis l'accent sur la faute de contrôle de Traffic aérien de l'aéroport de Kathmandu.

Selon un reportage, Global Financial Integrity s'est dit que Tk 500 milliards ont été blanchi depuis Bangladesh en 2015.

Selon un reportage, Transparency International dans la nouvelle indice de corruption a classé Bangladesh 149 parmi 180 pays. La position de Bangladesh a été baissée par 5 pas dans une année. Cela indique corruption amplifie dans le pays. Le chef de l'agence de l'anti-corruption a demandé des données sur l'enquête de TI.
Selon un reportage, un ancien banquier a escroqué Tk 186 milliards et s'est enfui à l'étranger. Il menait service financier clandestin depuis longtemps. L'escroquerie a laissé ses clients en difficulté financière.

Be Kind To Private Lesson Providers

Highest court on the land severely rebuked the coaching culture. Several other appeals about private lesson providers are shelved for the first week of February to be settled.

There has been a lot of criticism about the ongoing coaching practices in Bangladesh. More precisely, private lesson provided by school / college teachers and coaching centers for entrance exams of tertiary education institutions are at the forefront of this criticism.However, no serious effort has been made to distinguish between corporatization of private lesson provider and those who took up the job to meet the basic needs.

Among others, arguments put forward against private lesson providing services include out of classroom teaching by serving teachers, influencing the results, question paper leak, falling quality of students.

Government responds to these allegations by shutting down coaching centers prior to key public examinations. In addition, it is seriously considering to impose some kind of restrictions on teachers who provide private lesson to students of their respective institutions.

Point the government is missing here is that the whole private lesson service cannot be blamed for the corrupt acts of the few.

The High Court in its recent verdict called the "private lesson providing business" is an immoral act.

Maybe the defendant lawyer did not manage to convince the court that in a materialistic society teachers also do have aspirations and dreams. They also want a secure future for their children. In a country like ours, teaching is not a rewarding career. To make a decent living out of the monthly salary is far from reality. A teacher's only source of making some bucks is this private lesson service.

Government can regulate or formulate policies regarding this service. Instead it heaped blame on private lesson providing services for decay of values in whole education system.

This faulty perception needs to be changed. Back in April last year, I wrote a piece titled"Stop This Publicity Stunt" underscoring hollow stance of Anti-Corruption Commission on private lesson services.

In that piece I argued that in our country coaching services are also available for O/A level students. However, we have not heard of any question paper leak in O/A level exams. Did the government try to find out the reason?

The question paper scam marred our public examination system because some corrupt public servants and coaching centers pander to the demand of leaked questions. Rather than putting the professional integrity and commitment under scanner the government put the whole private lesson service industry under scanner.

Apart from teachers, unemployed people, petty employees also contribute to this industry to supplement their income. Is that a crime? In an age when cadre-based political parties are flourishing and levying unofficial duties on businesses by drawing monthly extortion or charging commission on public projects or receiving monthly payments from the parties, how can a non-partisan youth or petty employee meet his basic needs or fill the shortfall in earnings needed for decent living?

There is no left or right international fraternity organizations that will send aid for him through diplomatic channels or charitable organizations.

To our dismay, we also noticed that how all the government machinery including the court stepped forward to farther accelerate the process of tribalism at the tertiary education institutions instead of making them a center of excellence. Meanwhile, our neighbors surpassed us by securing positions in Asia's top 100 universities. And 47 years after independence, we reinvented their utility in the society by dubbing them "[political]leader maker". By the way, hardly any of these leaders' son and daughter have studied at these desi universities or gone through local education system.

I found it rude and indecent when a minister said that primary school teachers should not send their children to kindergartens. None has the authority to clip the wing of aspirations of a primary school teacher.

At the same time, it is not just to make private lesson service a villain when there has been lack of quality jobs, drop in corporate salary, rising inflation and an army of job seekers.

What are the practices in other countries?

In Singapore, which is ranked 4th in CPI 2018 by Transparency International , private lesson providers enjoy a respectable life and many earn millions of dollars. The service is a well recognized industry. In South Korea, the private lesson centers are known as club( i.e. Math Club, English Club etc) and are full of books on respective subjects. South Korean students spend hours in these centers to read books and take services of private tutors.The clubs do not display name of the teachers. BBC made a magnificent documentary title "School Swap: Korea Style" on South Korean education system. Despite being less corrupt countries, both Singapore and South Korea have a thriving private lesson providing industry. The presence of such an industry did not pollute the whole education system. So the point is when corruption is prevalent in every aspect of society, private lesson industry cannot stay unscathed and remain a distant island.

I would request the court, and at the same time to the government, to read the Straits Times report on Singapore's super tutors and watch BBC documentary on South Korean school before the February hearing.

This will help them to clear their perception about private lesson providing services.Misdeeds of few cannot be categorized as common practices of a whole industry. This industry also helps to blossom the true potential of an educator and to fine tune acquired knowledge of a person who is on the verge of moving toward the next stage of his own field. A more constructive role from the part of policy makers and judiciary will be to formulate do's and don'ts and regulate the industry.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(18 janvier ---- 25 janvier)



Mon site (https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com) est encore bloqué au Bangladesh. J'ai constaté que quand j'ai publié nouveau poste dans ce site pour quelques heures le blocage sur mon site (https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com) a été enlevé. Mais il reste toujours inaccessible le plupart de temps. Cela suscite ma soupçon que quelqu'un l'a bloqué au Bangladesh.

Selon un reportage, Wealth X a classé Bangladesh 3eme dans le classement de croissance de Riche au Bangladesh.

Selon un reportage, plus de 1000 Rohingya sont venus au Bangladesh l'année dernière depuis l'Inde. Dans la frontière entre Bangladesh et l'Inde, la force frontière de l'Inde a appréhendé 31 Rohingyas.

Selon un reportage, la Police sri lankaise a identifié 13 Bangladais pour avoir passé Cocaïne et Héroïne au Sri Lanka. Le 31 décembre, Police lankaise a saisi 272 kilogrammes de héroïne et 5 kilogrammes de cocaïne.


Selon un reportage, un camion plein de charbon s'est renversé et tué 12 ouvriers dans une briqueterie à Cumilla. Quand la tragédie a frappé ils dormaient.

Regional Framework To Contain Corruption

While addressing a jubilant party loyalists at Suhrawardy Uddyan, PM stressed that her new government would not tolerate corruption. A "zero tolerance" policy would soon be put in place. Despite the corruption scams that jolted the nation but failed to unsettle her government, many found some kind of optimism in her commitment to contain corruption. But many people will watch how far and at what length she could go to translate her words into action.

So far, only politicians, businessmen and former public servants having ties with opposition political parties have been tried on charges of corruption. No ruling party leader or public official has been tried.

However, PM's stance was greeted well across people from different creed.

In recent years, some FDIs are stemming from our big trading partners. Infrastructure and energy are two key sectors that witness the FDI boom. In addition, our trading partners are also happened to be major procurement source s of our ongoing development and investment projects. Some of the partners also sell arms to us.

With growing FDIs and development projects, the likelihood of corrupt act has also grown. Uncharted territory of corruption is also opening up in a developing country like us. For instance, none of us guessed that Bangladesh Bank heist would happen in Bangladesh.
Coincidentally, culprits of the crime are nationals of influential trading partner or of country with which we have special arrangements.

Last year , I read score of news reports on how Chinese importers cheated their Bangladeshi partners by sending container-load of sand instead of the agreed good. I don't know whether the importer got reimbursement or took any kind of legal action against the Chinese company.

Connectivity and greater involvement also invite unintended consequences. These stray incidents should not be seen as obstacles to forge greater ties. Rather, they create new alleys for cooperation.

Some of the investment proposals are coming from groups who have wide array of businesses spanning in several continents. With these diverse portfolio and aligned interest with their suppliers, they are likely to evade taxes or hide information that is crucial to calculate their earnings and tax.

Often many of the corrupt groups escape the the legal system or manage to do business in other countries due to their high political connection.
If we put in place a regional framework to contain corruption, we may be able to try corrupt individuals or groups who operate beyond borders and in multinational settings.

Any agreement between anti-corruption bodies of these countries will pave the path for anti-corruption cooperation and will significantly reduce incidence of corruption in the region.

Similarly, this kind of arrangement will help to check smuggling and narcotics activity across the border. It will wok as a catalyst to remove the political tutelage that this kind of clandestine trade enjoys.

Crony corrupt practices are prevalent in this part of the world. This kind of agreement will also thwart high level political corruption. So any corrupt act committed in one country will invoke punitive action in another country as per the agreement. Extradition may take place in light of such agreement.

One may argue that what good it will bring as influential political groups have greater leverage over this sort of constitutional bodies. In favorable time of the cronies the bodies may not try them, but they can keep a record and document the corrupt incident and open up investigation at a later date to try them.

The most important thing this kind of agreement will work as a scarecrow in a corrupt country to fend off evil motive of any transnational corporation.

Crux of the matter is today or tomorrow we have to go for this kind of arrangements. Before any eventuality spurs that kind of cooperation, it is better to devise an agreement right now. And the welfare benefits this cooperation agreement will generate is beyond to gauge.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(11 janvier --- 18 janvier)
Mon site https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com est encore bloqué au Bangladesh. Le 16 janvier pour 4 heures le blocage a été enlevé. A partir de minuit, le 17 janvier , mon site est bloqué pour deuxième fois. WordPress m'a répondu que mon site était bloqué au Bangladesh. Il n'avait pas de difficultés à voir mon site hors de mon pays.
Selon un reportage , TIB a détecté fraude électorale dans l'élection générale en 2018. Le Tsar de l'Anti Corruption a fait une étude à ce propos. Scrutin dans 47 conscription a été mis en question.
Selon un reportage, des ouvriers bangladais au Koweït ont assiégé l'ambassade de Bangladesh au Koweït en signe de protestation contre escroquerie par leur l'agence de recrutement.
Selon un reportage, 832 Rohingyas, dont 39 % sont des enfants âgés moins de 5 ans, sont tombés victimes de varicelle.
Selon un reportage, le gouvernement et patrons ont mis en fin la protestation par les ouvriers de confection. Des ateliers de confection ont licencié des ouvriers qui participaient à la protestation. Le plateforme de patrons BGMEA a préparé une base donné des ouvriers militants. Il se peut qu'ils ne trouvent pas de boulot dans atelier de confection.

Chalk Out A Domestic Rohingya Policy

Fresh batches of Rohingya are coming to Bangladesh. Some countries in Middle East and India are driving them towards Bangladesh. In recent weeks, clashes erupted between Rakhine separatist groups and Tatmadaw. Peace and reconciliatory moves to create the right atmosphere in Rakhine State now linger in uncertainties. It has become evident that we have to host this hapless people for an indeterminate period.

For the last 7 or 8 months , I have been arguing for a domestic Rohingy policy. Introduction of a bill in the parliament detailing the tasks of managing the Rohingya crisis till all of them repatriated.

Unlike other refugee situation, very few countries step forward to provide them shelters. Bangladesh is leading the way in abating this crisis by housing more than a million Rohingya and providing some of the basic needs.

However, drawing resources to facilitate the relief efforts for this vulnerable group has met some setbacks. Despite the pledges from leading multilateral financial institutions, worries are there. There have been reports that actual contribution to relief programs fell short of aid promises made by others.

Provided the long duration of the crisis, some policy measures are necessary in a bid to develop the Rohingya population and ensure sustainable livelihoods. That means more aid commitment. While the existing commitment is not met, it will not be practical to expect more.

One viable solution is to make sure that development partners made some "trade commitments" in terms of providing market access to Rohingya made good. I will articulate this later but first take a deeper look at the Rohingya development.

Provided the camp conditions are not suitable for secondary and higher secondary education, education institutions outside the camps could be seen as alternatives. Capacity of these institutions have to be increased. Pre-fabricated structures may be built to accommodate the new students.

Next comes recruitment of teachers.As the Rohingya students will follow some of curriculum of the Rakhine education system, recruitment of suitable teachers is the next big challenge. Some of the teachers may be recruited from abroad.

Some NGO run schools in the camps are already providing pre-primary and primary education. Two years down the line we need tocater to the demand of education need of the Rohingya children. Moreover, many secondary-school-going Rohingya children stay idle in the camps. To bring them back to school, an urgent policy needs to be drawn.

Now the crucial question is who is going to finance the education of the Rohingya children. World Bank has shown some keen interest. But more donors are needed. I think a better idea will be to draw some funds from ME countries. Bangladesh can put into work its thawed relations with Saudi Arabia in this regard. For instance, Bangladesh can scuttle the the projects for building religious cultural institutes across the country and divert the money to finance the education of the Rohingyas under its supervision. The point is the education provided will not be theological but will be in line with curriculum prevails in Bangladesh and Myanmar. One stumbling block is to consult with Saudi Arabia and to make them agree to this new initiative.

Another source could be aid pledges for this goal from our existing development partners or countries who are sympathetic towards the Rohingyas.

For able Rohingya students, Bangladesh can allow them to pursue tertiary education at universities and colleges. Special scholarship fund can be formed to finance higher education of the Rohingyas.

Creating sustainable livelihoods for the Rohingyas is another challenge. I have long been arguing for a " Made By Rohingya" campaign, which will popularize the Rohingya made goods abroad.To make it successful, Bangladesh should train thousands of Rohingya entrepreneurs. And provide them capital or initial seed money.

Sympathetic governments need to take initiatives to create some kind of markets of these goods in those countries. For instance, armies of these countries buy huge quantity of knit items every year. Spending is done by public money. Friendly countries may maintain some quotas for these items and allot them to Rohingya entrepreneurs.

This trade access is more beneficial than any aid pledges. It will truly empower the Rohingyas.
When it comes to set up businesses, deal with financial transactions, status of the Rohingyas is a major challenge. Government can offer them some kind of identity status, not a citizenship, by introducing a special bill in the parliament.

This Rohingya act will acknowledge their refugee status in this country and at the same time allow them to have a special identity card, open bank account, set up business and rent land or commercial space.

This act is quintessential to chalk out a contingency plan for the Rohingyas. It will not only contain the holistic plans for addressing the crisis, but will also bear ideas for dignified future of a stateless community.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(4 janvier --- 11 janvier)

Je ne suis pas arrivé à accéder à mon site https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com Il est encore bloqué au Bangladesh. J'ai déjà déposé une plainte dans la gendarmerie locale et notifié Cyber Crime Unit de la Police. Malheureusement, CCU et BTRC ont joué ignorant à ce propos. Ils ne savent pas qui l'a bloqué.

Selon un reportage, Ain O Salish Kendra a revendiqué que 466 personnes avaient été tuées extrajudiciairement en 2018, la  tuerie maximum par les forces de l'ordre dans 5 années. Par ailleurs, ASK s'est dit que 207 journalistes avaient été ciblées au Bangladesh en 2018, deux fois plus que le bilan de l'année précédente.

Selon un reportage, une Cour de Philippine a condamné une banquier à 56 ans de prison pour avoir participé à piratage de la Banque centrale de Bangladesh.

Selon un reportage, ouvriers de confection se sont insurgés contre discrimination de leur mensuel. Un ouvrier a été tué par balles. A cause de leur manif, il y avait grand embouteillages à Dacca. Le gouvernement et patrons ont calmé la situation en revalorisant le salaire. Mais la manifestation continue.

Selon un reportage, le Parlement indien a dit oui au projet de loi de nationalité qui met accent sur donner nationalité aux groupes persécutés des pays avoisinants.

Governance Crisis: From Local Alleys To Foreign Shores

As Dhaka has fallen to the angry RMG workers, daily commuters feel the full brunt of it. Workers longing for a scheduled pay rise in the new year feel deceived when some workers at different grades saw their wage did not rise as much as that of their coworkers.

They fretted over the discrimination and occupied the streets when no measures were seen to redress their grievances. In the industrial zone of Ashulia, skirmishes between workers and owners have been going on since December.

The new wage increase has come into effect from first January. Having counted the salary, many realized the bosses, some of whom made into the parliament, reneged on agreed promises. In some factories, salaries are  due for months. The feeling of deception culminated into an angry protest that managed to block several key roads in the garments quarters of Dhaka.

The bosses wriggled out responsibilities by pointing finger to vested interest group. They are preoccupied with the thought that someone is constantly hatching troubles to kill the golden goose of Bangladesh economy. Quite oblivious to the fact that vested quarters will stir trouble if there is anger and grievances among certain section of the population.

What rubbed salt to blue collars' injuries is absence of their representation in the parliament. Meanwhile, many of the RMG bosses again became MPs with brief stint into politics or having no ties to politics at all. A particular section of a crucial industry has given a bigger role in policy making while the others remain cornered.

Earlier veteran left leaders   were called on to join the cabinet. It was assumed that these former rabble rousers would take care of the workers ' interests in policy making table.

This time in the new cabinet many of them were shown the exit door. In the election, the left alliance also suffered a crushing defeat. The alliance blamed the ruling party for unprecedented irregularities.

Net result is that  the voice of the voiceless across the  aisle has become feeble in the new parliament.

To me, it is a governance issue. It could have been dealt differently. It is no secret that in this time of the year we usually witness workers' unrest . Government did not take measures to abate those recurring tensions.

Despite its assurances, its words translate into action with significant delays that could do great harm in its efforts to trust building measures across different social groups.

Bringing on board a section of a crucial industry, it effaces the thin red line between  regulator and boss. Problems are there to be solved, so are the tensions.

The crisis of governance is writ large on domestic roads and foreign shores.
On the new year's eve, Sri Lankan Police detained 5 Bangladeshis and seized a huge quantity of heroin and cocaine. It was Sri Lanka's biggest seizure of narcotics. From press reports, Bangladeshis were running the drug racket in Colombo. One of the members made frequent trips there misusing the on arrival visa opportunity.

Later last week a Philippine bank sentenced a Bank manager to 32-56 years of imprisonment for having links in Bangladesh  Bank heist that jolted the whole financial world and laid bare vulnerability of online financial  payment systems. Bangladesh has yet to conclude its investigation, but the incident has left a serious question mark on its financial institutions, which are still reeling from widespread corruption.

Earlier a Thai serving General was sentenced to life imprisonment after he had been found involved in human trafficking that caused deaths of hapless Rohingyas and Bangladeshis. However, not a single Bangladeshi was identified or tried for having links in human trafficking via sea.

In USA, Texas news papers were carrying reports how everyday Texas border patrol nabbed illegal Bangladeshis while crossing the Rio Grande river. Casting serious doubts over Bangladesh's trumpeting of its economic achievements.

In Italy, Bangladeshis topped the list  of boat-riding asylum seekers, many of whom fleeing war back home. Situation in Bangladesh was not as dire as in those war-torn countries. Why did so many Bangladeshis take such a perilous boat ride?

Others will also search answer to question like why Bangladesh is failing to curb drugs.

Throwing the garbage over neighbor's roof or backyard does not prove one's smartness in dealing with the garbage. Rather, its discovery could jeopardize the relationship with the neighbor and lead to untoward outcome.

Maybe ruling class does not care about the feelings of Bangladeshis in tackling with governance issues. But when these issues cause trouble on foreign shores, others will react. Bilateral relations may survive the twists and turns , but sympathy towards Bangladesh is likely to take a hit. In tackling with the Rohingya crisis, Bangladesh is gradually realizing this harsh truth.

And the ongoing RMG crisis is just another reminder that ruling class should put the house in order.
 

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(29 décembre ---- 04 janvier)

Élection législative de 2018 a eu lieu. La victoire totale pour le parti en exercice. L'alliance des partis en exercice a remporté 288 places dans le parlement. Dans les circonscriptions électorales de Dhaka-14, Dhaka-15 et Dhaka-16, je n'ai pas vu les affiches ou manifestations des candidats de l'opposition. Plateforme des partis de l'opposition, qui a obtenu 7 places, a jeté le résultat. BBC a détecté fraude électorale dans une circonscription électorale à Chittagong où urne était pleine avant le commencement de scrutin. Élection commission a procédé à un scrutin nouveau là-bas.

A l'occasion d'élection générale, il y a une hausse d'attaque contre les journalistes. A Savar, une bande de journalistes d'une chaîne privée ont été ciblées.Au soir, la diffusion de la chaîne a été arrêté pour quelques heures. A Khulna , un journaliste a été appréhendé pour être trompé de bilan de résultat des urnes.


Selon un reportage de BBC, un journaliste a été battu par des gens inconnus à Sheorapara Dhaka.

Le service de l'internet a été interrompu puisque le gouvernement a ordonné à ralentir l'internet. On n'accède plus aux sites de Wordpress. Je n'accède plus au mon site https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com depuis le 18 décembre.

Selon un reportage, deux ouvriers de confection ont été percuté par bus à Malibagh. Ses camarades et les passagers ont bloqué la rue pour se faire entendre leur demande de justice. Une centaine de véhicules ont été vandalisées.

Selon un reportage, des fidèles du parti en exercice ont violé une femme pour avoir voté un candidat de l'opposition. La viol a bouleversé le pays. Police a appréhendé des coupables.

Selon un reportage, police sri lankaise a appréhendé 3 Bangladais pour avoir mené les affaires de stupéfaits. Police sri lankaise a aussi saisi 304 kilogrammes de héroïne et 5 kilogrammes de cocaïne.

Stray Thoughts On 2019 Election

I belong to the group of voters who cast their votes in this election and I also belong to the group of voters who are not certain that their votes got counted.

First of all, let me set the record straight --- this piece is not about report card on election  or election monitoring. Rather, it highlights my personal observation about how the events unfolded on election day. Moreover, I am not privy to any ideological group. Nor am I disseminating the messages of any political creed.



As I expressed it many times, I am not a great fan of cadre-based parties. So I did not vote for any such party candidate. It matters little whether he represented an alliance or an individual cadre-based party. Obviously my preferred candidate could not make it. Like many worried voters, my only concern is whether my vote got counted.

On December 30, I took a morning stroll long before the voting had begun. Ten minutes prior to commencement of scheduled voting, I walked past 4 polling stations and had a glance at them. Of them , two fall into Dhaka-15 and the rest are on Dhaka-16.

I had not noticed any long queue before them.I got back home and had my breakfast. Watched international coverage on Bangladesh election. I took a shower and went for the polling station around 10:30 AM. I did not face any obstacle and headed straight to the booth whose number I scribbled down to a piece of paper.

Luckily I did not have to wait in a queue and I was the only person at the booth. After performing the rituals, I cast my vote. This very polling station was later featured on Aljazeera.

I got back home again. Suddenly the idea of watching how the  poll was going on in surrounding neighborhoods came to my mind. I embarked on a personal observation trip around 12: 10 PM. Had I watched the BBC  news clip on severe beating of a reporter in broad daylight, I would not have taken the trip.
Election commission banned vehicular movement in Dhaka Metropolitan Area during poll day. Empty streets of Dhaka turned into a paradise for wanderers. This time I noticed thin queue of voters around the polling stations that I had taken a look earlier.

I went to Mirpur-11. Noticed crowd flocked in front of a polling station. Then I went to Mirpur-12 bus station. Watched police vehicles and a magistrate's car parked outside a polling station. Hardly seen any voter there.

Then I took another long walk to Mirpur-1, passing Mirpur-2. The only vehicles I noticed either belonged to security forces or to ruling party. Some opposition supporters openly expressed their dismay over the election. Rickshaw pullers were charging high fares sensing their great demand.

I went to Mirpur graveyard for martyred intellectuals. An army column drove past me after paying a routine visit to a polling station of Dhaka-14.

Working class was not happy with the election atmosphere. The mood  was writ large on the faces of day laborers and rickshaw wallahs taking lunch at a roadside eatery.

Dogs took charge of the streets. Unlike us, they are pretty disciplined.They patrolled the street like diligent security personnel and respected territories of others. A pack was taken aback by heated exchange of abusive words between a passenger and a rickshaw wallah. Dogs of the pack were appalled by the quarrel. They might be telling:"Gee, man eats man!"

I approached Mirpur 10 and saw the thin queue vanished in front of one of the polling stations.  Police vehicles replaced them.

What puzzled me was the absence of Oikyafront candidates' posters. In Dhaka-15, chieftain of a notorious Islamist party was chosen as its candidate. Perhaps that might be the reason for this since more and more people dislike them after the Shahbagh movement, I thought. But I had not seen any poster of Oikyafront candidate in Dhaka-14 and Dhaka-16. Even I had not seen any Oikyafront election campaign office.



Main opposition alliance was in compete disarray. Was it due to coercion? Was it due to differences among them? Was it a submission to total defeat before even the battle began? Many people will look for answer to these questions in the coming weeks.

As soon as the dusk set in, roads got emptied.Crackers started to explode. For a brief moment, 3G and 4G speed was restored. Via free basic Facebook, I came to learn that transmission of a private TV station was taken off. I punched the  number on remote, the screen was complete black.On the eve of election day, its journalists were targeted. The owner of this TV channel was an independent candidate. I thought that might be a  reason for this blackout.

As expected, sweeping victory results flashed on the scroll. Strikingly, there was no jubilation outside. People longed for change were subdued by this overwhelming victory.

I was deeply disturbed as I no longer have access to my WordPress website. First, I thought election could be the reason for this. Internet services were stalled.

Despite the block, earlier I used WordPress to access the admin panel to publish post. I could not do that any longer. WordPress is blocked! What has gone wrong?

The news of who got elected in my constituency had not reached me till then. I was preoccupied with one thought. Did they really count my vote?

News broke out that a journalist was thrown into jail under the pretext of draconian digital security act for getting his election stat wrong.

What good does the triumph of a large cadre based party bring to society? I was wondering. Honor of journalists was reduced into rubble. Ordinary people like me are having troubles in expressing their thoughts in digital platforms. Is this the dawn we really sought?

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(21 décembre --- 28 décembre)

A cause de suspension de l'internet, je n'ai pas pu publier mes postes dans mon site. De plus, je ne peux plus accéder à mon site puisque Wordpress est aussi bloqué par gouvernement.

Selon un reportage, les forces de sécurité ont conseillé le gouvernement à ralentir internet pendant élection générale.
Violence à la veille de prochaine élection générale ne cesse pas. Presque tous les jours il y a des reportages d'attaque contre candidats.

Selon un reportage, il y a des nouvelles de violences dans plus de 100 circonscriptions électorales. 40 candidats ont été cibles.

Selon un reportage, Facebook et Twitter ont retiré 30 pages et comptes de Bangladais pour avoir diffuser les nouvelles fausses.

Selon un reportage, Asian NetWork For Free Elections a exprimé soucis  après ses membres ne sont pas arrivés obtenir Visas pour observer élection au Bangladesh.

Selon un reportage, une société saoudienne va investir $330 millions au Bangladesh pour mettre en place une cimenterie et moderniser la facilité de fabriquer équipement électrique de la société publique BSEC.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(14 décembre --- 21 décembre)

Selon un reportage de Reuters, les journalistes bangladais pratiquent assez de caution pour  publier des nouvelles pendant que la loi sur  sécurité  entre en vigueur.

Selon un reportage, le service de Google a été interrompu puisque le gouvernement a bloqué 54 sites au Bangladesh.

Selon un reportage, 150 activistes des partis politiques sont tombés victimes des violences dans 12 villes.

Selon un reportage, en septembre Police a déposé 578 plaintes de sabotage. Depuis septembre jusqu'au 14 décembre, police a appréhendé 1509 activistes des partis politiques sous prétexte des plaintes.

Unemployment Benefit : Bane Or Boon?

[My website https://rezaulhoque.wordpress.com is inaccessible. It may be blocked. I launched this one to publish my takes and reviews on weekly events till I get back my access to the website.
-Rezaul Hoque ]




Generally, election manifestoes are not that much attractive. This election turns out to be different. More or less all the parties touched the issue of social security programs in their manifestoes. It is a good sign that they are waking up to the grave social concerns.


Though they did not promise moon to the left-outs, but introduced some propositions that sound practical. A new addition to our existing social security program is the promise for unemployment benefits. A bit late but a welcoming step.

One party promised to provide unemployment benefits for the first two years.Another party promised benefits plus dissolution of age limit for government jobs. Ruling party promised to offer job to one unemployed youth of every family.

All the major parties seem agree to offer some kind of benefits to the unemployed. This will increase the expenditures on social security.


First take a look at the spending on social security over the years. I dipped into the statistics on social security programs as reported by Bangladesh Economic Survey. In its second term, the expenditures on social security have grown by manifolds.In 2014-2015, our social security expenditures were Tk 30,751.11 crore. A year later, it grew to Tk 37,546 crore. Now in the current fiscal year government allocated Tk 54,205.89  crore(proposed) for spending on social security.
Largest part of the social security programs is attributed to various cash benefits programs, followed by food security measures.

Of the social security programs, cash benefits given to various groups have risen significantly over the years. Among others, beneficiary target groups include widows, aged people, physically challenged people, freedom fighters and poor mother on maternity leave.

In 2013-2014, government spent Tk 9,666.25 crore behind various cash benefit programs.In 2014-2015, it increased to Tk 12,667.28. In 2015-2016, government doled out Tk 16, 485.83 crore to various vulnerable and left-out groups. Spending on social security programs  further increased and became Tk 19,594.16 crore. In 2017-2018, government allocated Tk 30,854.64 crore in cash benefit programs.

If the parties really keep their words, then the unemployment benefit scheme will further broaden government's cash benefit programs. Unlike other cash benefits, government can easily cover the spending on unemployment benefit scheme. I will spell it out a bit later. Before that let us have a look at the breakdown of the cash benefit scheme.

In 2017-2018, government planned to provide Tk 500 per month to 3.5 million aged people, resulting in Tk 2,100 crore. It also planned to provide Tk 500 per month to 1.265 million widows, costing it Tk Tk 759 crore. It allocated Tk 360 crore as maternity benefits to poor mothers. Tk 120 crore for lactating working mother. Tk 3,200 crore for freedom fighters. The list continues with minuscule allocation to many groups. To make the discussion brief, I prefer not to highlight them here.

At the individual level, the sum is meager and may not be enough to alleviate the sufferings of the target group. However, this is a statement that the country does care about the the vulnerable groups and

recognize their role in nation building.        

Cash benefits to the unemployed can be viewed as boosting consumption. By providing cash benefits to a section of active population, government is broadening the purchasing power of a group. It also contributes to increase the consumer class. Given the ability of our government, the benefit it will provide to the unemployed will be meager. Say it will be Tk 500 per month. To an unemployed, it is just a pocket money. My own observation is that only 3 or 4 million unemployed will comply for this benefit scheme. Now for 4 million unemployed people if the government doles out Tk 6,000 per annum it will cost the government Tk 2,400 crore.

But as I have said by spending this amount the government will notch up gains in boosting consumption and reducing vulnerability of certain section of the society.

And the best part of this program is that it can recuperate the spending by slashing part of their earnings or imposing duties on their existing consumption.

Those who will comply for this social security program should have a social security number. For the moment, let us think  national id number is the social security number. In a bank account, the monthly benefit, in our case it is Tk 500, may be provided against this number.
Spending can be recovered in a short span of time. Supplementary duty on mobile call rate can be viewed as a potential source for its funding. For instance, off peak call hours can be aimed to impose this duty. Government can also slap further duties on tobacco items to finance the spending.

But the biggest source of revenues could be this very target group. When they get a job,government can deduct part of their monthly income till the benefit fully get covered. Or they can pay back the whole amount at a convenient time.

Another potential source of funding could be unused fund of annual development projects. Government takes numerous development projects throughout the year. In reality, it implements very few of them. In addition, many of these projects are designed to cater to the demand of political stalwarts. They have little significance to lives and livelihoods of local people. In plain words, these are waste of taxpayers' money. Part of the development fund could be diverted to finance the unemployment cash benefit scheme.



So this annual Tk 2,400 crore , Tk 6,000 per annum for one unemployed person, does not appear to be a spending instead an incentive to boost domestic consumption. Moreover, the money spend here will return to government's coffer.

In broader perspective, the new social security program for the unemployed is more than a social security spending. It will have tremendous impact on local economy, ranging from an increase in consumption to improve the businesses of SMEs.The best part of it is that our ailing banks will give a sigh of relief when this Tk 2,400 crore will be injected into the banking sector.

It is indeed a good move by our political parties that they have pledged to address the growing unemployment problem through social security programs. The amount may be meager, but it will definitely have a lasting impact on  economy and people. And the new spending will not be an extra burden to the government if  it is financed by resources drawing from the target group for whom it is meant.