The newly formed committees in divisional, district and upazila levels to create favorable atmosphere for attracting local and foreign investments is one of the 10 initiatives personally taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The ‘Committee for assistance in improving investment scenario in divisional, district and upazila levels’ has been set up in order to improve the investment potential all across the country.
It is high time that such an initiative is taken up as majority areas of the country are yet to be developed sustainably. The overpopulation in the capital is exacerbated by this very fact as more and more people are coming to Dhaka in search of better employment opportunities.
We have already reached over-capacity and yet migration of the poor from rural areas is showing no signs of slowing down. Traffic congestion, severe air and water pollution and lack of housing are just the tip of the iceberg in the unplanned city of Dhaka. Decentralization should therefore be made into a top priority for the government moving forward.
One can only hope that this
ongoing effort on the government’s
part brings about the long-awaited
changes across the country
The initiative is the stepping stone on the road to decentralization. Bringing in investments in rural areas as well as small towns will eventually lead to improvement of infrastructure in those areas. More roads, improvement in connectivity and more medical facilities will follow. As a result rural economy will flourish. There will no longer be the need for mass migration of people from rural areas to the already densely populated areas.
Improvement of Grameen economy will cause employment rates to increase substantially. Creating more opportunities in regional and district level will also increase the country’s GDP. Better infrastructure will also usher in even more investment as well as a massive boom in the tourism sector as well.
For many years now, Dhaka has among the top most unlivable cities in the world. The situation is unlikely to improve unless decentralization is taken up seriously by the government. One can only hope that this ongoing effort on the government’s part brings about the long-awaited changes across the country.