Defining Governance:
Governance has by now become a familiar term in academic arena and the international donor circles. The familiarity has, among other things, resulted in numerous efforts to define governance in recent years. But these efforts have not resulted in any universal consensus as to the precise meaning of governance. Governance has been viewed from different angles focusing on various dimensions of it. In general, sense governance means exercising political power to manage a nation’s affair. Today governance is seen as a reflection of the role of the state in giving direction to the development, a country and political regime. Only recently McCarney, Halfami and Rodriguez become successful in placing the term ‘Governance’ in a broader context and focusing on its core aspects. According to them, governance has two things, in the first sense; “it means a system of government concentrating on effective and accountable institutions, democratic principles and electoral process, representative and responsible structures to ensure an open and legitimate relationship between the civil society and the state.” (McCarney, et al. 1995)

UNDP made another precise definition of governance. According to UNDP, “Governance is viewed as the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage country affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms, processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences”.

World Bank defines Governance as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development,” The World Bank has identified three distinct aspect of governance:

1. The form of political regime.
2. The process by which authority is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development.
3. The capacity of governments to design, formulate and implement policies and discharge functions.

Another widely accepted definition was made by Jon Pierre and Guy Peters. They wrote in this context, “Governance can be a confusing term. It has become an umbrella concept for such a wide variety of phenomena as policy networks (Rhodes, 1997), public management (Hood, 1990), coordination of sectors of the economy (Campbell et al. 1991; Hollingsworth at al., 1994), public-private partnerships (Pierre, 1980), corporate governance (Williamson, 1996), and ‘good governance’ as a reform objective promoted by the World Bank and the IMF (Laftwich, 1994). Furthermore, there is a tendency to confuse governance as an empirical phenomenon with theories about how this phenomenon operates and can be understood”.

Forms of Governance:
Governance can be viewed both in positive and negative terms –
(1) Poor governance.
(2) Good governance.

(1) Poor Governance:
A World Bank booklet cogently summarized the major symptoms of Poor Governance. These are:

• Failure to make a clear separation between what is public and what is private, hence, a tendency to direct public resources for private gain;
• Failure to establish a predictable framework of law and government behavior conducive to development or arbitrariness in the application of rule of laws;
• Executive rules, regulations, licensing requirements and so forth, which impede functioning of markets and encourage rent seeking;
• Priorities, inconsistent with development, resulting in a mis-allocation of resources;
• Excessively narrowly based or non-transparent decision making;
• Excessive costs;
• Poor service to the public and;
• Failure to achieve the aims of policy.

(2) Good Governance:
Good governance means an ideal governing system that is inevitable for political, economic, social and cultural development of a country. It is the ideal orientation of a state that works best to achieve self-reliance, sustainable development and social justice.

Since 1978, due to un-international standardized management, i.e. especially of some countries in Latin America and Africa, the super state, World Bank had then proposed a political term called good governance. In general sense, good governance means an ideal governing system that is inevitable for political, economic, social and cultural development of a country. Ideal governing system means the ideal orientation of a state that works best to achieve self-reliance, sustainable development and social justice and the ideal functioning of government that operate most efficiently. Good governance ensures a better today and a brighter tomorrow for all the citizens. It is the proper management of public officials. Still a precise definition of good governance is awaited.

Good Governance, for the World Bank, includes some or all of the following features:

• An efficient public service;
• An independent judicial system and legal framework to enforce contracts;
• Accountable administration of public funds;
• An independent public auditor, responsible to a representative legislature;
• Respect for the law and human rights at all levels of government;
• A pluralistic institution structure and;
• A free press

Realizing the difficulties of defining good governance, the overwhelming tendency has been to delineate aspects of good governance. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has highlighted several aspects of good governance. Some of these include:

1.the promotion of democracy and open pluralistic societies;
2.the Strengthening of transparent, accountable, efficient and effective national and local government;
3.the promotion of respect for human right;
4.the reinforcement of rule of law, including fair and accessible legal and judicial systems;
5.the promotion of independent media and the dissemination of information;
6.anti-corruption initiatives; and
7.Efforts to reduce excessive military expenditure.

When we talk about good governance, we in fact refer to the working relation among the three organs of the state and actions of the executive branch of the state. In operational terms, these refer to enjoyment of fundamental human rights; independence of judiciary, abiding by the rule of law, policy based administrative accountability, transparency, accountability, predictability, effectiveness and efficiency of the government. Political, legal and bureaucratic accountability are the three main aspects of basic to good governance.

Elements of Good Governance:
There are many elements of good governance. Opinions differ on the elements of good governance among international organizations, scholars and academicians. However, synthesizing their discussions the core elements of good governance are as follows:

1.The democratic process: Transparency in the election process; parliamentary conduct; parliamentary immunity and privileges; decentralization of authority.

2.Accountability-both political and financial;

3.Reform of public administration: adequate remuneration as a disincentive to corruption; ethical codes of conduct; training and education

4.Civil society: non-governmental organizations, the media and investigative journalism; corporate-private sector; academic community

5.Complaints procedure: whistle-blower status

6.The ombudsman: the appointment process; resources allocated to the ombudsman; accessibility

7.Enforcement of Rule of law and judicial system: independence of the judiciary; removal of judges for cause; adequate remuneration; promotion of judges; independent prosecutors; improved access to justice

8.Privatization: monopolies as a vehicle for corrupt practices; privatization procedures; transparency in government procurement.

9.Participation: Participation of citizens in decision making and implementation;

10.Enforcement mechanisms: independent anti-corruption agencies; prosecutorial powers; civil and criminal penalties.

Characteristics of good governance:
Remy Herrera said that, democratic and impartial institutions, efficient management of resources, transparency in decision-making and accountability are the hallmarks of good governance. Apart from being an instrument of public affairs management, or a gauge of political development, governance has become a useful mechanism to enhance the legitimacy of the public realm.

Much has been written about the characteristics of efficient government, successful businesses and effective civil society organizations, but the characteristics of good governance defined in societal terms remain elusive. The characteristics are:

1. Participation – People should have a say in decision-making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that affects their life and represent their interests. Such broad participation is built on freedom of association and speech, as well as capacities to participate constructively.
2. Rule of law – Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights. Rule of law is ensured in every sphere. People’s human rights and fundamental freedom are respected, allowing them to live with dignity.
3. Transparency – Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions and information are directly accessible to those concerned with them, and enough information is provided to understand and monitor them.
4. Responsiveness – Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders.
5. Consensus orientation – Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interests of the group and, where possible, on policies and procedures.
6. Equity – People are free from discrimination based on race, ethnicity, class, gender or any other attribute. All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. Women are equal partners with men in private and public spheres of life and decision-making.
7. Effectiveness and efficiency – Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources.
8. Accountability – Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organizations are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders. This accountability differs depending on the organization and whether the decision is internal or external to an organization.
9. Strategic vision – Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development. There is also an understanding of the historical, cultural and social complexities in which that perspective is grounded and the needs of future generations are reflected in current policies.

Attributes of Good Governance:

The instrumental nature of governance implies that the four governance “pillars” are universally applicable regardless of the economic orientation, strategic priorities, or policy choices of the government. The four attributes of governance are accountability, transparency, predictability and participation (World Bank: 2000).

Governance in Bangladesh

Ever since Bangladesh achieves it independence, it is passing eight broad regimes with the present Sheikh Hasina’s regime, came into power for the second time. Since, 1971 to present, by this thirty nine years, Bangladesh is experiencing eight major regimes having a variety of political system with different styles of governance. It is interesting to note that with the changes in regime, all new governance deliberately opted to bring about modifications, alteration or abolishment of policy, both state and public.

The following table can give us a brief understanding about governance styles and political system of Bangladesh:

Bangladesh: Attributes of Good Governance:
Scholars present a number of attributes of good governance in the literature. Some popular and widely accepted elements are:

1. Political and Executive Accountability
2. People’s Participation
3. Participation of Civil Society Organizations:
4. Predictability
5. Transparency
6. Promotion of Democracy & Political pluralism
7. Rule of Law & Human Rights
8. Decentralization
9. Women’s participation in development process

These attributes are discussed in below relating to Bangladesh context:

1. Political and Executive Accountability: In Bangladesh, accountability has been largely shaped by the influence of a number of factors. These are: dominant executive, weak legislature, distorted growth and low levels of development of political parties, lack of independence of judiciary, and lack of credibility of the electoral system. Due to continuous absence of opposition in the 6th to till 9th Parliament, the door of political accountability got almost traumatized. The internal and external mechanisms (e.g. A.C.R, The Rules of Business, and Warrant of Precedence) of executive accountability also remain procedurally weak, which reinforces the pervasiveness of corruption for several times in Bangladesh. The credit of Bangladesh’s being first in corruption reflects how weak the institutional mechanism of political and executive accountability in Bangladesh. There are huge evidences available of the ex-Presidents or ex-Ministers being on trail in charge of corruption e.g. Hussain M. Ershad and lots of ministers of last BNP led four parties and present Awami League led grand alliance government. Bangladesh seems to be a safe abode for the warped politicians. Nothing has happened to recently accused one secretary for allegation of corruption raised by U.S state department. During BNP led four party government, another astonishing event was that the Home Minister got suspended from four on- going cases after he had become minister and another minister of power, energy and natural resource ministry was suspended also for corruption. The role of Comptroller & Auditor General to oversight financial accountability in Bangladesh is also replete with numerous institutional pitfalls. Besides, Ombudsman had not yet been established due to lack of political will of each ruling governments after the act was passed in the parliament. The Field Administration is directly or indirectly charged with corruption. Thus, all these weakness altogether turn the accountability system a mere force in Bangladesh leading all-encompassing poor governance.

2. People’s Participation: Participation culture in Bangladesh remains a myth since independence. Although there were some efforts to ensure peoples participation through Gram Sarkar or Upazilla decentralization, but these efforts were impaired in the course of time by the ill political motives. Involvement of people at the grassroots level have been considered as the most effective means through which economic development can meet the aspirations of the people and to ensure good governance that the benefits really percolate down to the lower strata of the society, Bangladesh is facing this problem seriously. There was always a tendency on the part of government to relegate the status of participatory local government by intervening in decision-making and various project works. Thus, truly participation of people in government is always missing in Bangladesh. As a result, creating consensus among the people of Bangladesh about national and international issues has been very rare and also one kind of unattainable task till today.

3. Participation of Civil Society Organizations: Good governance requires vibrant, strong and active civil society organizations- for example, neighborhood associations, trade unions, woman’s organizations and consistency groups. Civil society organizations in Bangladesh have increasingly taken forms of NGOs. They have been active in Bangladesh since independence and grown in size and number in response to new needs and a massive increase in donor funding.

4. Predictability: Predictability status in Bangladesh is highly unsatisfactory; one of its manifestations might be cited to the frequent Amendment Bills passed by the Parliament. Almost in all aspects of government there is no certainty in Bangladesh. Lack of predictability makes it difficult for the public officials to plan for the provision of services. Predictability of government economic actions is also needed as an indicator on which the private sector can rely to make its own production, marketing and investment decisions. Starting from monetary and fiscal policy to prices, exchange rate and employment level everywhere consistency turns to be a far cry, which affects the investment climate directly. Most importantly to be predictable, the application of economic regulations must be effective, fair and uniform. The dependent central bank, executive control over judiciary – all harmfully affect the governance capacity of Bangladesh.

5. Transparency: Access to accurate and timely information about the economy and government policies can be vital for economic decision-making and as well as other issues, which is deplorably missing in Bangladesh. Bureaucrats in Bangladesh are seen to be obsessed with secrets and are unwilling to divulge any information to the public. To some extent, bureaucrats can legitimately plead that they are hemmed in by official restrictions. The Official Secret Act, of 1923 and the Government Servant Conducts Rules (GSCR) of 1979 bind civil servants to an oath of secrecy, even forbidding them to pass official information to other departments of the government. It is accused that, Ministers do not help the administration to bring transparency and they are also involved with violating code of conducts of administration for the sake of their party or own, as a result transparency in politics and administration has become an unattainable subject for Bangladesh. Transparency of government implies its responsiveness to the changing needs of the people and the emerging problems they confront with. Transparency and democracy are complementary to each other. Only through the development of a sound democratic system, it is possible to practise transparency both in politics and government administration.

6. Promotion of Democracy & Political Pluralism: Democratization emphasizes that the people shall elect the governing body and there should not be any restriction in the movement of diversified political parties. Bangladesh returned to the parliamentary democracy by the 12th Amendment of the Constitution in 1991, but by these nineteen years the ideals of democracy could not explore a firm foundation in Bangladesh. Periodic fair election, which is an essential ingredient of democracy, always remains a matter of dispute in Bangladesh. Lack of an independent Election Commission was one of the main reasons to arrange a free, fair and credible election. In 2006, volatile political culture was seen all over Bangladesh due to mistrust between two major political parities of the country. As a result, election of 11th January, 2007 was postponed and military backed caretaker government came to power with declaring emergency and ongoing governance and democratic process was failed.

7. Rule of Law & Human Rights: Perhaps, the most essential element of governance in the context of Bangladesh is rule of law and human rights. Rule of law implies the absence of arbitrariness’ in the governance of a country. Law is considered as supreme and none can claim exemption or immunity from it. Article 32 of the Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees fundamental rights, a person’s rights to life and liberty. But in reality the situation of rule of law in Bangladesh is unquestionable terrible. There can be cited thousands of examples of the deteriorated image of rule of law currently occurring in Bangladesh. The most dangerous thing is even the law enforcing agencies or defense officials get into involved in various forms of crime. Law is being violated with the sponsorship of ruling political party or parties. In October 28, 2006; world had witnessed a black chapter of political history of Bangladesh, political activists of opposition were killed by ‘Loghi-Boita Bahini’ in Dhaka that day and it was a unquestionable terrible really. The donors expressed their utter disappointment for the deterioration of rule of law and for violating human rights. Besides, the foreign investors also showed their unwillingness in investment for the downfall of an effective rule of law in Bangladesh. BNP led last four party alliance government and present Awami league led grand alliance government have introduced some new laws and amended some existing laws. The rule of law is a cardinal phenomenon to good governance, which has been tainted with the increasing number of extra judicial killings by the RAB, police and other law enforcing agencies.

8. Decentralization: Decentralization of decision-making is an important requirement of good governance. For governance to be effective decision making process must be straightforward and fast. But, in Bangladesh due to huge hierarchical chain and bureaucratic red-tapism, decision-making is very sluggish and lengthy process. Besides, the dependency of local government on the central government for various administrative and financial decisions is hindering to conduct good governance in Bangladesh. Though, these local government institutions are not given much more freedom to work effectively. A transparent bureaucracy provides an open and a comprehensive decision making process. This is possible when administrative system is decentralized to the peripheral areas and participation of the people in the decision making process is provided. Local government is the outcome of the concept of decentralization creating scope for the local people to see for themselves what is happening in the government. In Bangladesh, the whole governmental administration has been decentralized by creating 4498 unions, 481 upazilas and 64 districts.

9. Women’s participation in development process: The issue of women in sustainable development is still a larger one because of their role in resource management in the country and also because of their role in grooming new generation of people. Any shortcomings in their knowledge access to information, opportunities and decision –making processes would mean that the whole community suffers in the long run. The present situation with regards to sustainable development is clear indicator of depriving women from equal opportunities in all aspects. With regards to women’s involvement, while some progress has been made, there is currently inadequate research and analysis on women’s participation either in decision making roles related to environment and sustainable development. Preliminary review of national reports submitted for both Beijing +5 and National Plans on Agenda 21 indicates that measurable data on governmental efforts to increase the proportion of women in decision making on sustainable development is quite limited. If women’s participation is ensured in governance process, development activities will be reinforced and good governance will be ensured tremendously.

Challenges and Constraints of Good Governance in Bangladesh:
As a country of third world, Governance in Bangladesh is very poor due to lots of challenges and constraints. Some Challenges and Constraints of Good Governance in Bangladesh are discussed below:

1. Corruption: Corruption is one of the most dominant components of bureaucratic and political culture in Bangladesh. Corruption has been institutionalized in the public service and as well as in private sector. The credit of Bangladesh’s being first in the ranking of most corrupted countries in the world for several times shows the extent and pervasiveness of corruption now rife in the bureaucracy of Bangladesh public service. Almost all forms of corruption can be noticed among bureaucrats and politicians in Bangladesh. These include: abuse of authority, bribery, favoritism, extortion, fraud, patronage, theft, deceit, malfeasance and illegality. Much of the response to corruption is in the form of developing systems and skills, which enable corruption to be discouraged or exposed and punished. The last military backed caretaker government started their voyage against corruption. They had failed to root out it from the society, though they had promised. They filed lots of cases against top politicians of almost all political parties of Bangladesh. Lots of politicians including two ‘Begums’ were also being charged for it.

2. Centralization of Authority: The tendency to concentrate power at the top of the hierarchy in fewer officials is a legacy from the colonial past. In Bangladesh, all policy making power is concentrated at the secretariat. The official work manual, i.e. the Rules of Business gives considerable power to the Secretary. He is the chief advisor to the Minister in Policy making, acts as the financial head of the Ministry and assumes the role of the sole custodian of relevant information on which policies are based. Consequently, secretaries most of whom are generalists, exercise a great deal of power and influence in governmental decision-making.

3. Elitism: Elitism is widely pervasive within the civil service system of Bangladesh. It is reflected in the preference of generalists in recruitment. At the time of recruitment in the civil service all subjects in the examinations are considered to have equal value and consequently no preference is given for relevance. Members of the generalist cadre, i.e. Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration), occupy a relatively privileged position within the civil service in terms of promotion, transfer, posting and training abroad.

4. Politicization: The biggest threat to our democracy as an institution comes from the politicization of governance. The ruling government always tries to get the bureaucratic class as their loyal supporter through serving their interests and providing various facilities and privilege to them. Politicization of governance process is still going on at a great speed. Each and every government declares in their manifest about not to politicize governance process for the betterment of the country, but after coming to the power, they forget all about it, and do whatever the want. This tendency has reached its acme during the regime of Ershad, Khaleda and Also Hasina.

5. Violation of Human Rights: Massive human rights violation Bangladesh has attached global attention. Child abuses, women rights violation, child labor, suppression of freedom of expression are day to day issues of human rights violation. Each and every government takes initiatives to stop terrorism by horrifying ‘cross-fire’. They legitimize it. This is unquestionable way and human rights violation backed by government. The global community also expressed their disappointment about it.

6. Lack of Freedom: Freedom of press, of speech and of writing is violated in many ways. Radios, TV are used as the means of propagating government activities rather than focusing on the needs of the nation. Journalists and writers sometimes fall victim of the terrorists or of the government action. We have seen that, declaration of a 24 hour news based TV channel named ‘CSB NEWS’ was permanently canceled during the last military backed emergency/ caretaker government due to it’s broadcasting of news about 22nd August, 2007. Access to information is another vital factor for achieving the goals of good governance, which promote transparency and public accountability in the working of government functionaries. We have also seen that, freedom of press was abducted through 4th amendment in 1974 by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

7. Weak Legislature: Our legislature is very much weak, because of less experience, low level of education, low level of understanding. The policies only serve the interest of a particular political party. We saw that when the ruling party changes through election, a great change also occur in the legislative branch. The supporter lawyers of the ruling class come to the position. This process was started after independent. In this context we can give the example of the public safety act. This act was passed to meet the interest of the ruling Awami League Party and to humiliate the opposition.

8. Poorly Performing Institutions: Poorly performing government institutions is also another issue in Bangladesh. Performance of Public Sector institutions like Public Service Commission and other public service sector institutions is very poor and these sectors are highly corrupted, ill or poor service and also which often offer little or no service.

9. Volatile political culture: Volatile political culture and politically-sponsored violence in national and international level, especially at local level is another challenge for good governance in Bangladesh. This volatile political culture often may results uncertainty in politics.

10. Lack of people’s participation: Lack of peoples participation in decision making and implementation process directly or indirectly is a great challenge for attaining good governance in Bangladesh.

Concluding comments:
There is a general consensus that the governance is in crisis. A quick glance at the realities within the constitutional arms and the management of economic, administrative and the political affairs further strengthens the statement on crisis in governance. Good governance is not easy to achieve in Bangladesh. This is mainly because a host of social, cultural, economic, administrative and legal variables affect the nature and consequently determine the shape of governance in our country. In Bangladesh, it is evident that the present condition of governance is not satisfactory. Many issues and problems are the barriers to ensure good governance, equity and social justice. Corruption, political interference in administration, nepotism, misuse of power, absence of rule of law, non-accountable and non-transparent government and administration etc. are the common features of our governance. Although a lot of measures may be taken for ensuring good governance, it is high time to make our autocratic parliament a democratic one. And re-engineer the role of the dictatorial Prime Minister to a democratic one. In the interest of good governance, time has come for us to think about amending the black law (Article 70 of the constitution) to curve its abuse and free the public representatives to voice peoples aspiration in the parliament. Public opinion should be mobilized to discourage boycotting of Parliament and make the Parliament fully functional and democratic by making the speaker system a non-partisan institution. It is also necessary to make the ministers accountable to the parliament members while discharging their executive roles to make the parliament truly democratic. Re-engineering is also required to make the MPs the key actors of the parliament instead of the ministers by making the parliamentary standing committees more powerful, effective and functional. To ensure increased accountability and set the culture of resignation due to failure or inefficiency of ministers, legal provisions should be made so that cabinet ministers has to render resignation if no confidence motion is moved by one third members of the parliaments of which one third must be from the ruling party. It is required to make the parliament effective and functional and center of all debates. On the other hand, the opposition, civil society and social groups and organizations also have the moral obligations to help and co-operate the government in establishing good governance. But after eleventh January 2007, discussions are tabled that constitutional amendments are necessary to bring checks and balance of powers between the President, Prime minister and Speaker of the country. To make the parliament democratic, functional, effective measures should be taken to make the speaker panel an institution above partisan standing. In view of above discussion, we may safely say that if we can successfully follow the means of overcoming these challenges and constraints facing good governance and give due attention for their institutionalization, good governance is sure to see the light the day. Though the road towards success is tortuous, but the prospect is bright.

Capitalism’s market based solution which focus on the power of the consumer is largely based on some pre-considerations. Those pre-considerations are-

• Equal share of economic resources
• Equal Access to information
• Rational action

Equal share of Economic resources:

Market economy proposes that consumer can dictate the market by their purchasing power. They can motivate the producer of environment friendly goods producer by purchasing green product more. In case of resource direction to necessary goods from unwanted luxurious good, consumers can deter the production of luxurious goods by their demand for necessary goods. But, in reality, this happens hardly. This is because; this solution of consumer’s purchasing power will work only when all the consumers have same and equal amount of economic power. For example, if A have 80% of the total money of the world and all other have rest 20% of the assets, then market will produce those goods that are demanded by A. Because he will pay for what he demanded. This is why most of the resources will be directed to fulfill the desire of A.

Though consumers don’t want environmentally damaging products, they are forced to consume that because of their limited economic resources. In a survey, 82% of the British citizens were agreed upon the point of using green-products, but 18% of them reflected this in their purchasing decision. Again, there is a great need for life saving necessary goods from majority of consumers. But they can’t affect the production due to their low share in consumption volume.

The notion of “consumers can change the market through their purchasing decision” is largely based on the assumption that, all of them have equal share of resources, which is not in place. Because of this, consumers hardly can affect the market.

Equal access to information:

Again, the idea that consumers can decide what will be produced also presupposes that they have equal and unbiased access to information about all market factors. This is also not the reality as there are notable inequalities among consumers in terms of education level, financial capacity etc. all these affect the access to information.

Consumer are highly affected by the million dollar advertising campaign launched by the corporations. The purpose of all those marketing campaign is to make the product more necessary, more exciting, and more essential and some time, more ethical. In the age of information, major providers of information are in pursuit of biasing consumers about their products. So, it is very unlikely that consumers will decide based on actual need of the society.

Rational Action

Rational action while making purchasing decision also depends-for its effectiveness, on purchasing power and available information. In previous example, only 18% of the British are acting rationally by purchasing green products. Rest of them failed to act because they were economically forced to consume less costly products.

Although proponents of capitalism argue about consumers’ empowerment by their rational actions, it is not the reality. Consumers are isolated and poorly informed about macro economic issues. Even consumers are informed enough; they can act rationally due to their vested interest or dependence on the existing system.

Noam Chomsky pictured this as the act of “molding consumers life style, desires in such a way that is against their oneself”. He says, ‘the ideal is to have individuals that are totally dissociated from one another… whose sense of value is “Just how many created wants can I satisfy?’ this disenfranchisement of consumers is the key to corporate strategies of advertising which isolate consumer from one another. This is why, consumers are motivated to think individually, can’t think in macro-terms.

In recent times, a new concept emerges, Ethical consumption. According to Wikipedia, Ethical consumerism is the intentional purchase of products and services that the customer considers to be made ethically. Ethical consumerism is practiced through ‘positive buying’ in that ethical products are favored, or ‘moral boycott’, that is negative purchasing and company-based purchasing. Corporations favors “ethical consumption’ very much. They tried to present this concept as democratic one. The idea that consumers will vote through their pounds to decide on which product to favor is an undemocratic one. This concept assumes that only who are empowered with purchasing power can only vote. What about the poor who don’t have the purchasing power? They can’t vote as they are not consumers. Is it fair enough? They can vote for necessary goods that are crucial for their existence because they don’t have a bulky wallet. In fact, this concept of “Ethical Consumption” lets the firm to off the hook. It allows them to pass on the responsibility to consumers.

So, what is the bottom line? Capitalism can’t safeguard the effective and equitable allocation of resources, but they are better at it than communism. And being better is not good enough. Any modern economic system must provide enough mechanism to ensure basic needs of all the citizen of the society. And only relying on interaction of market forces lets it to go imbalanced. Both ‘central planning of socialism’ and ‘consumer preference of capitalism’ have proved to be failure. We better stick to a mixed solution which enforces legal regulation along with customer preference.

Price hike is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh. In Ramadan it becomes worse than the rest of the times of the year. Nowadays, life is becoming much worse day by day because of the high prices of essentials where most of the people earn a fixed income. People face a serious problem in balancing all spheres of their life as they are to spend more amount of money on essentials. The sufferings of the low wage-earners are beyond description.

When we think about the causes of price hike, some terms come to our mind — profiteering, hoarding, lack of proper market monitoring, high demand, lack of proper market monitoring, little applications of laws etc. Among these, profiteering and hoarding are the main culprits of price hike.

Profiteering is the activity of deliberately making too big a profit, especially by exploiting people at different times like during a war or famine — in our country, during the Ramadan, natural disaster and other crisis moments. Businesspersons form syndicates and charge exorbitantly high price instead of fair price.

Hoarding is another cause of price hike. It is a deliberate effort to create crisis of goods in the market to push up their demand. Thus, the product is marketed at a higher price and people are bound to buy the product at that higher price to satisfy their demand. An the time of natural disaster, shortage of supply creates price hike as the people want to procure things at any cost.

Other causes of price hike are mentioned in the following diagram which represents the cause-effect analysis:

It is generally suggested that to control price hike the government should take several steps like monitoring the market frequently and hanging price lists in the bazaars. Such steps have been proved to be of not much effect in controlling price hike. It seems that there is a problem with the ethics of the businessman.

Moral values and the sense of social belongingness should be developed among the businessmen. It is shocking that during the Ramadan, prices increase manifold in our country. In the Middle East, businessmen reduce the prices of essentials during the Ramadan in the hope of getting reward from Allah (SWT). In Europe, people buy more products and services during the Christmas, and prices of products and services remain low. Can we imagine such a situation in our country during the Eid, pooja, Christmas or in other religious festivals?

We should promote moral values and business ethics. The mass media, government, politicians and religious leaders can play a vital role in this regard by undertaking mass awareness campaigns among all classes of people, particularly the businessmen.

We need moral filter as well as some effective measures to control price hike. We can say like Barack Obama “change we need”. Yes, change we need in our social structure.

The writer is a student in management studies at Dhaka University. He can be reached at: monir_du25@yahoo.com

Traditionally, society was production centric. Customers has less room to express their desire. Even, they couldn’t even think of it as they were satisfied with what their providers provide. At that time, Producers were important elements of the total business or production process.

More precisely, it was technically sound peoples who were the most important and respected persons in the society. This status was very usual as society depends on them for goods. There were scarcity of such people in every society at that time. People did not know about other “Karigors” residing in other society. Because communication at that time was not easy, neither physical not any other format.

There are some other charactersistics of such society.

• This society was production centric
• Service was neither available nor introduced at that time
• Production was the major problem, not the sales.
• Education or technical ability was not easy to gain. usually, such expertise was flowed into family members downward.
• Competition was absent

Then….

Society went to drastic changes due to development of communication – Both physical and electronic media. Communication brings globalization and competition. Consumers started getting products that were not produced in their locality.  Education became wide-spread and easy-to-access. Increased competition shifts the power from producers’ hand to consumers’ hand. Thus a consumer-oriented society was developed. This society is characterized by intense and disruptive changes, changes demanded from consumers. Increased demand and competition forced the producers to emphasis on service, because product quality was almost same and the differentiation strategy was to introduce service.

In a service based economy, like now-a-days, those previously respected technical persons were neglected comparatively. More respected and salary started to flow to service producers. Thats why, now a industry worker gets less than a worker sitting infront of computer. The worker is making the core product and the knowledge worker is making power point slides. Somebody may argue the need of ppt slides in the process of production. But this is not a question of production, this is a question of marketing. This is the age of winning customers’ pocket share, not an age where customers run for limited supply of products.

Two different questions arise at this stage. One from Ethical dimension, another from trend dimension.

1. Which one demands more emphasis – to produce goods or to produce slides to sell goods?
2. Initially floor workers got the highest return, now the knowledge workers. Whose next?

One of the most discussed word in this moment in Bangladesh.Each and every sector needs reform.specially, Public administration of Bangladesh.we know that, changing regime of govt means change of faces in administration, change of some people, change in every steps.it is true and it is reality.It is happening after liberation again and again…

Recently i have seen in newspaper that, Awami Led grand alliance govt declared to find out corrupted and politicized bureaucrats to run administration perfectly.

obviously, through finding out corrupted and politicized bureaucrats to make administration free from evils and to  punish those, are routine work of any govt at all.Administration must be free from corruption and it is not a place for politics,we know that.After independence, we have seen that, administration has been made a part of politics.But Awami govt is creating pressure in the name of rooting out corruption from administration. As a result, Administrative routine work is being hampered and peoples sufferings are increasing tremendously and govt also facing challenges in implementing its policies. our politicians are using our administrators to attain their own purposes.after attaining their purposes,politicians used to throw them away.our greedy administrators also liable for that.as a result, public administration does not work properly when there is a change of govt regime or not.

AL govt has made many brilliant and honest bureaucrats OSD in the name of rooting out corruption from the administration.Almost of them are Honest, Highly qualified and true patriot.But they have been suspended because of their true patriotism.Claims against them were not enough for doing so.

it is a matter of great sorrow for us.we are highly paying for that.we should come out from these manner.we need reforms not only in public administration,but also in govt attitude to administrators.Reforms must be made in govt policy because administrators act according to govt policy.so govt has to take decision, either reforms or volatile administration….either an effiicient administration or an administration full of worthyless ….

The offensive in Swat valley is seen as a test of Zardari government’s commitment to face up to a growing Taliban insurgency and comes after the United States accused it of “abdicating” to the militants. The fighting has caused civilians to flee the valley, once a tourist destination, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. The Pakistani Government had warned civilians to leave the conflict zone. Despite the road blocks and military curfew about 800,000 civilians had fled from the latest fighting, as over the weekend the curfew was temporarily lifted to allow thousands of people to leave. They were joining about 500,000 displaced by earlier fighting in the northwest.

The Swat Valley in the Malakand region was once one of Pakistan’s biggest tourist attractions. The vast sky is almost always a clear blue, and the icy slopes seem close enough to touch. Swat, only about 250 kilometers (156 miles) north of the capital Islamabad, was a haven for wealthy city residents, who came here to enjoy the fresh, clean air or hike along mountain brooks and through apricot groves. The valley’s residents have little in common with Taliban. In August 2001, a new local government system was introduced by the military-led government of Pervez Musharraf. The new system consists of a District Nazim (or mayor) and a deputy Naib Nazim, and the district in turn was subdivided into two tehsils. The first is Swat Tehsil with 52 union councils and the other is Matta Tehsil with 13 union councils. Each tehsil has its own Nazim and Naib Nazim. The local people are mostly non-tribal and governed by a peaceful provincial government. It was a calm place, but that was before the Taliban established itself here in August 2007. Driven out of Afghanistan by the US and allied forces, Taliban foot soldiers sneaked into Pakistan. Pakistan shares a 2,400km-long border with Afghanistan so it was easy for them to seek refuge here. In effect, Pakistan, a nuclear power, has relinquished its sovereignty over an important part of the country. It has been recognized that the worst downside with respect to Pakistan if those nuclear weapons come under the control of terrorists.

Pakistan’s military has fought a series of campaigns against the Pakistani Taliban and its allies since 2004, and the militants have only grown stronger. It has never been clear how much the failures of the military campaigns have been caused by incompetence, and how much by complicity. Pakistan government conducted mission also to weep out Taliban from Swat in 2007. In late November, Pakistani regular forces threw out Tehreek-e-Nafaz -e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi militants from its stronghold in the Kabal District of north-western Swat. About 250 militants died in two weeks of fighting according to Pakistani authorities and the militants retreated into the mountains. By December 2007, the militants were on the run, with the valley “largely cleared”. Pakistani officials stated at that time that it would take four months to re-establish functioning institutions in the area, in the wake of Islamist ruin.

The present government of Pakistan has permitted the rule of Sharia (administration by the Islamic Sharia law) effective from 16th of February 2009. As of 2009 the area is almost entirely controlled by the Taliban. In recent years, militant groups in the Swat valley began attacking and killing civilians as well as police check posts in Swat. The region was largely under effective militant control as of January 2009 despite the presence of 20,000 Pakistani troops. The extremists are led by Maulana Fazlullah, 33, a self-proclaimed cleric who once worked as a laborer on a ski lift. The people of Malakand call him simply the “radio mullah.” It was Fazlullah who first took his terrorist network to the airwaves. In his broadcasts, he promised more efficiency and justice to citizens disappointed by the corrupt and lethargic Pakistani authorities. But the station quickly turned into a parallel government of sorts. In each day’s broadcast, Fazlullah’s holy warriors issue new rules that reflect their own interpretation of Sharia. Women are already banned from visiting markets, under penalty of death, and girls prohibited from attending school. Police officers who obey orders from Islamabad risk having their ears cut off or being killed. Some 800 policemen have already deserted their posts to join the Taliban.

The Swat agreement between the provincial government of NWFP and the Taliban agreement invoked mixed reactions from the locals: some are relieved on the prospect of relative peace, while others are more skeptical about the radicalization of this scenic paradise and the push that this accord would give to the spread of Taliban’s movement in Pakistan. The people of Swat have welcomed this peace-agreement as welcome respite from the fighting that had brought their lives to a standstill. However, reports from the area suggest that this agreement has been accepted by them out of fear of continuous fighting that has destroyed the once scenic valley. With the imposition of Nizam-e-Adl, some colleges and schools, including those for women, have reopened. However, women have to conceal themselves from head to toe as per the Islamic law or Shariah. This is deeply unpopular with the majority of Pakistanis, who despite being muslims are generally moderate and very open to interaction between various cultures. Furthermore, Pakistanis are now scared that this deal may only serve to embolden militants to spread their influence into more settled parts of Pakistan.
Despite the reported ceasefire, the Taliban have refused to lay down their arms. Various international political and security analysts are opining that this deal and refusal to lay down arms may have devastating effects on the stability of Pakistan. Pakistan’s Taliban have seized control of another district in the country’s northwest just 70 miles from the capital after consolidating their hold on the Swat valley following a peace deal with the government, according to local government officials and residents. Militants have been moving into Buner since the Swat peace deal was signed in February. They seized control of the entire district, which has a population of more than one million people. Heavily armed militants, streaming from Swat, occupied government offices and set up their own check posts.

However, the offensive was launched on the pretext of President Asif Ali Zardari’s assurance to a nervous United States in Washington that his government was not about to collapse and was committed to fighting militancy. Besides, at the United Nations, Zardari said after talks with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that the U.N. chief would “appeal to the world with us jointly to help Pakistan and the affectees of this war.” Basically, it is a mission to conduct search and destroy operations into the Peochar valley, which runs northwest off the main Swat valley, where the Taliban have a headquarters. Zardari’s bitter realization is consistent with the picture that Mike McConnell, the former director of the US National Security Agency (NSA), formed when he visited Pakistan. He met several times with the military leadership in Islamabad last year. During one of these meetings, a Pakistani two-star general told him why the army, which has always been the dominant political power in Pakistan, complies with the politicians’ demands to fight the Taliban while at the same time secretly supporting the group.

The officers do not expect the United States to remain in Afghanistan in the long term. They fear that India will advance into the power vacuum that will be left behind when American troops withdraw. For this reason, the Pakistanis are unwilling to give up their ties to the Afghan opposition, the Taliban. In a recently published book on the foreign policy challenges President Barack Obama has inherited, New York Times author David Sanger quotes the Pakistani two-star general as saying: “We must support the Taliban.” Pakistan’s military remains more concerned about a conflict with India than about Islamist terror at home. As a result, it accepts Talibanization as a necessary evil, allowing, for example, such changes as women no longer being accepted as customers in restaurants or tailors’ shops — even in Lahore, a liberal major city home to many intellectuals.

On the other hand, Pakistan’s military offensive against the Taleban in the Swat valley has done nothing to allay Indian doubts about its willingness to crack down more widely on Islamist militants. That leaves both countries vulnerable to a flare-up of tensions still simmering after last November’s attack on Mumbai which could torpedo the US administration’s plans for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Hence, peace in Swat valley becomes crucial and would tantamount to alienating the Taliban who have regional agenda, and have foreign elements among them. An escalation in fight against Taliban is in the offing. The US is not listening to Pakistan government’s lukewarm objections to drone attacks and is continuing them uninterrupted which are nothing less than total disregard to Pakistan’s national interests. Pakistanis have to keep their house in order and stopping the drone attacks stabilize the settled areas of the NWFP as bulwark against the spill over of Taliban ire from the tribal belt. The government must pacify and resettle the internally displaced people in the tribal areas and dissipate the concerns of the population so that route cause terrorism can be uprooted with greater focus and determination.

This big breakthrough came in April 2004 when 23 Asian countries signed the agreement in the 60th session of UNESCAP at Shanghai. The agreement, active since last July 4, finalized the route map across Asia and established basic technical standards for roads and route signs along the Highway, such as using the initials “AH” suffixed with number codes for regions and sub-regions. So the single-digit route numbers 1 to 9 are for Asian Highway routes that substantially cross more than one sub-region. The route numbers 40-59 and 400-599 are for South Asian countries, while the route numbers 10-29 and 100-299 are reserved for Southeast Asia. The Ministry of Communication of Bangladesh has finalized three proposed routes crossing Bangladesh. These are AH1, AH2 and AH41. The 495km AH1 from India would go through Benapole-Jessore-Dhaka-Kachpur-Sylhet-Tamabil. The 805km AH2 from India would join Hati Kumrul-Dhaka-Kachpur -Sylhet-Tamabil. The 752km AH41 also to come in from India and link Mongla-Jessore-Hati-Kumrul-Dhaka-Kachpur-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazaar – Teknaf with Myanmar. The international sea ports, Chittagong and Mongla are connected to AH1 and AH2 by AH41 so that the ports can also serve the regional needs if required. If the AHN witnesses complete execution, Bangladesh will be connected with 32 countries including Turkey, Japan, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, the Philippines, China, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Bhutan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, and all the way to Bulgaria in Europe along the 141,000 kilometers of the completed network. Asian Highway covers international trunk routes of about 90,000 kilometers, transiting 25 countries.

Initially, Bangladesh offered two entry/exit points on the North-East corner of Bangladesh as part of its proposal. In 1993, UN-ESCAP asked all AH member countries to indicate as to which roads of their national network could form part of the Asian Highway network (AHN). Apart from the routes mentioned earlier, Bangladesh also proposed, in addition to Tamabil, Austagram (Sylhet)-Karimganj (Assam) route which could have provided a much shorter link to Tamu via Imphal. Tamu is the border point with India, which Myanmar offered for AH connection with India, and then through India to Bangladesh. Myanmar projected road connections also to China and Thailand, but none to link Bangladesh straightforwardly. Bangladesh has failed to attach itself with AHN so far because of the wrong selection of routes. Bangladesh chose the Tamabil route about 600 kilometers to Imphal from Sylhet. It was a suicidal decision. This route passes through a hilly region across four Indian states through which vehicles can travel only slowly, as the gradients are sheer. Trucks with heavy loads will have troubles in moving, fuel consumptions will be immense, making travel expensive. There was no reason for choosing this route since the alternative route through Austagram would have been shorter by around 200 kilometers.

It has been expected that the sophisticated highway system would afford for greater trade and social exchanges between Asian countries, including personal acquaintances, project capitalizations, connections of major container terminals with transportation points, and promotion of tourism via new roadways. India is optimistic that the mega project will bring it and Pakistan closer, as a furtherance of the earlier recommencement of bus and train services between the two countries after decades of hostilities. The highway system foretells a prospective epitome for Bangladesh like other Asian countries. Once Bangladesh becomes a part of this globalised network, it will get linked with the countries located both to the east and the west. The AH will open up huge economic opportunities through providing shorter routes for movement of goods and passengers, leading to huge savings in transport costs as well. Private sectors and Donors from across the globe would find Bangladesh an attractive place However rights groups in Southeast Asia monitoring the North-South Corridor segment were concerned with the remote area’s rapid development resulting in significant increases to exposure of HIV/AIDS, human trafficking and the possible exploitation of the surrounding forests and wildlife resources.

However, it would be naïve to think that Asian highway would bring huge turnover for our country, rather it can be ominous, if we fail to make right time decision and chose right route in the highway system. Wrong selection or seeking any political upshots may render it that the government is serving to implement the conspiracy of India against the country by allowing the transit and corridor for India in the name of Asian Highway Network while not protesting the construction of Tipaimukh Dam on Borak River at the upper reaches of Surma and Kushiara Rivers. It would be a threat to the sovereignty of the country. Ounce Bangladesh be connected with the routes; the country would be turned to a free market of Indian goods. It would bring immense losses for Bangladesh. The country would be turned to battle place of Seven Sisters of India, which are carrying out movement for liberation and the Indian central government wants to resist them by using the two routes.

Therefore, Bangladesh should reconsider its decision to join the highway network. Bangladesh after signing the Agreement at least should mobilize the opinion of other member countries that the present AH1 route between Sylhet and Imphal is not suitable for any of the member countries. It must convince other Asian countries that the Sylhet-Austagram -Karimganj-Imphal route will cut the distance by about 400 kilometers, thereby reducing time and travel costs. After obtaining the support of India and other member countries, and fulfilling all the requirements as per the Agreement, Bangladesh should apply for amendment of the Tamabil route. Concerning a probable AH route through Chittagong-Gundum-Myanmar to Thailand, Bangladesh needs to pursue the issue first with Myanmar as the most concerned country. If Myanmar agrees, it should pursue the matter then with India, being the most effected country. Once these two countries are pleasant to a direct AH link through Myanmar, with Thailand and South-west China, Bangladesh can convey a proposal for amendment together with Myanmar, India and other linked countries provided it has fulfilled all other necessities as required under the agreement.

However, like traditionaly payment methods,there are Digital Cash, Online credit card, Online accumulated store account, Online value storage etc. But most widely used media is some Peer-to-peer method like Paypal.

What about Bangladesh? where are we standing? Now days, we are talking much about Digital Bangladesh. Truth is There is no online commerce or e-commerce activity in our country.

Our internet penetration very low, not even 1% of our total population. With such a terrifying low internet penetration, it is a sin to dream of having e-transaction in our country. But there are peoples who, time to time, do Afsos for not having any e-payment like paypal. Some of my friend said in previous classes that, they would buy from internet if they have any payment system.

Most of the IT professional, specially the web development or desigh related people  need e-payment system badly. A single Paypal will be a great aid to those needy people. But we are not in the Paypal list. Even Bhutan is on their list!

According  my text book, one of the major weakness of those e-payment system working is lack of convertibility of e-currency. The balance in any e-cash account is not convertible like cash without the help of any intermediating third party. Again it also needs special hardware arrangement like computer, internet connection which are barrier to convertibility. Traditional cash payment is easily convertible as it is authorized by a nationala authority.

Here lies the fact. There is also a great problem of Platform Dependence of those payment systems. Digicash dont accept Paypal. A site may support Paypal, may not Digicash. This is a great barrier. This problem was created as there is no common standard provided by any common authority like Federal Reserve Bank or Bangladesh Bank.

For Bangladesh, If governemnt starts working on building a e-payment system, I would suggest that, it should be initiated and authorized by the governement. Government should set up standardards and a authorization body to authorize the E-Taka. That is Government should work like as intermediating authority which will bring a mass acceptance of E-Taka, thus easing the convertibility problem.

I’m thinking of developing a more detail framework for a e-payment system for Bangladesh.  Hope to share it with you here in Youthinkers! Keep in touch with this post for future update.

The volume of trade, joint investment, scientific and technological cooperation have also grown by leaps and bound. At present Bangladesh exports include shrimps, fibers, fertilizer and leather while it imports aluminum, fabrics, shoes, refrigerator and rubber from Thailand. Thailand recognizes Bangladesh’s enormous opportunity in exporting food, fruits and vegetable, jute and leather products. Thailand is very keen to invest in Bangladesh especially in medical and public health services sectors. Furthermore, joint venture projects are being planned in areas covering textiles, fishery, garment, construction industry, pharmaceuticals and telecommunications.

In the coming days, Thailand and Bangladesh will be closer. People to people contact and cross cultural ties will ignite a new era of friendship network between both countries. Transport links in all dimensions particularly through Asian Highway will be strengthened and telecommunication networks will be more interconnected. Cooperation in information technology, liberalization of investment sectors and gradual withdrawal of tariffs will reenergize trade partnership as well. A Memorandum of Understanding to facilitate trade and commerce is expected to sign in the near future.

Collaboration in anti narcotics, drug trafficking and counter terrorism drives, disaster management and post disaster rehabilitation, maritime cooperation, and energy security through energy conservation and use of bio-fuel will get highest priority. Thailand will boost import from Bangladesh and amplify investment on tourism and health sectors. Bangladesh shall also twice its jewelry import from the world leading jewelry exporter, Thailand.

Bangladesh will therefore continue to promote partnership with Thailand to further enhance opportunities and to work together to address economic and security challenges in the years to come.

The contemporary security concerns of Bangladesh emerge as a complex phenomenon. Although the conventional interpretation of security emphasizing on power armaments, weaponry all remain valid, but they by themselves are no longer able to explain a nation’s threats of multiple dimensions. Non-conventional sources of insecurity such as economic matters and environmental deteriorations have not been placed in their proper perspective to incorporate such assessment into the national security agenda. National defense establishments are useless against these new threats. “Neither bloated military budget nor highly sophisticated weapons system can halt the environmental despoliation or economic influence of the industrially advanced countries over LDCs. Therefore, an interface in the domain of Bangladesh security preoccupations is likely to be apparent setting conventional and non-conventional security in an image of confrontation.

Bangladesh is conscious of the need to make itself secure. Political, economic and social structures of Bangladesh are week and inflexible. The problem of internal security made the problem of external security all the more acute and vice versa. In reality, blind pursuit of a military power led to negative consequences such as- misperceived national security consideration to excessive military spending which in turn caused distorted economic development of our country. As a developing country Bangladesh with its fragile development wheel needed a strategy that in concrete terms can ensure overall security for its own. One can argue that security preoccupation of Bangladesh is not reality-oriented rather it’s the maintenance of sequence of age-old security perception as it is addressed from realist perspective. Military services –Army, Navy and Air forces-in Bangladesh are largely a reflection of traditional security perception pursued in the name of modernity. As trade and commerce, business and investment grow with this region and our economies are increasingly intertwined, the chance of an armed conflict between the neighboring states reduces. With this truth in mind, the question rises why there is still more emphasis on military security. Defense budgeting being one of largest expenditure sectors of the government is posing threat to livelihood of individual citizens and thereby hampering the social welfare of the country. We have already seen, from 2000 on ward, expenditure on defense is on the rise. As big portion of allocation from budget is reserved for unproductive actor, the govt. has to cut off a significant amount of allocation from productive sectors.

The country’s socio-economic situation is now worse than ever. The purchasing capability of people is declining day by day bringing more people under the vicious circle of poverty. More people are unemployed and therefore social tension and unrest is increasing incrementally. The circumstances like these demand an intensive attention to development initiatives to make the state enterprises more productive. But we observe a converse scenario in 2008-2009 budget allocation that is abutting 565 crore for industrial sector, commerce ministry-117 crore for labor and employment purpose on-133 core. On the other hand, defense gained parallel priority with education and agriculture, which stands respectively 6306, 6296 and 6499 crore. Agricultural sector deserves a significant amount of subsidies to reduce the price of agricultural goods, which provide the staple foods of the nation. But maintenance of large military appears as setback to this phenomenon. Environmental threats for the country are imminent and inevitable. Despite this threat in mind, the govt. hardly feel any urge to adopt a sustainable development strategy to avert a human catastrophe that is to displace millions of people form their homeland generating threat to state survival. It is seen that, this year budget does not reflect the concerns of environmental disasters which has been visible in the allocation of shortest amount for the environment related activities which is 23% of the total budget. Policy is framed of threat comes at the door. Bangladesh military always tends to justify their existence in the name of contributing in relief and resettlement and rehabilitation activities. But the opportunity cost of traditional security can never be justified on the pretext of military participation on social activities and in peace building activities abroad since the remittance procured from peace program is largely engulfed by the military themselves.

It is obvious that, with a limited mineral resource lower level of industrialization, Bangladesh cannot address all of its problems, rather only tackle the issues held severe threats to the survival of its own and its citizens. Both public and govt. are not aware enough about these silent emergencies. Education and research is urgent investment for a strong nation. In order to keep pace with progress in world economy and to develop an effective strategy to fight the contemporary unprecedented challenges a strong educational and research base is a crying demand of our country. But down fall in quality of education especially in higher education sector, absence of pragmatic research oriented curriculum and absence of social research is posing silent but most urgent non-traditional security threat to our country.

However, prioritization of military sector over education sector, especially in the current budget (6.30% for defense and 5.70 for education) could have dampening impact on our nation. Lack of logistics in education sectors accelerated brain drain and commercialization of education. If we look at the infrastructural facility, the situation goes worst further. Inadequate halls, poor health facility, adulterate food service with less protein and calories are damaging students’ talents and toils. Lack of student’s excess to research and analysis also decrease their potential to drive the future nation. Students are also the worst victims of military rule in our country. Student politics in public universities and colleges have become fertile ground of crime and violence. Instead of serving the society, they are being used to destroy it. It is not a surprising matter that the government (military) will establish a military university by passing the problems of public universities, which is stated before.
Furthermore, teachers are the mechanics of building a society. Their guidance and contribution in both academic and policy making fields show the way of overcoming crisis and lead the country to progress and prosperity. Unfortunately, they are not properly facilitated in our country. While in India and Pakistan a professor receives salary of Tk. 150000, in Bangladesh, they are provided only about 20,000. On the other hand being an unproductive sector, military personnel enjoy higher salary, residential facility and other allowance than that of university teachers. Militarization of Bangladeshi politics is one of the major causes for our adolescent democracy. Our democracy is still young only of 37 years but unfortunately for limitary intervention on time to time didn’t let him to get it on institutionalized form, thus our political institutions became weakened. Practice of the healthy democratic culture was disrupted repeatedly by the military intervention since 1975. But we know democracy is a very sophisticated subject that it needs a suitable environment to grow up. But military intervention time to time coined on the growth and practice of healthy democratic culture. Military also brought some ills in our political system like autocratic culture, corruption etc. Militarization of a country’s political system brings a lot of misery, which has been very clear to us from the scenario of our neighboring Myanmar and Pakistan. Our situation though is better than theirs but it can become worse. Without an institutionalized democracy a country can’t achieve any good result.

The economic role of national security is vital because of its extensive spill over effects on other national values. Persistent under development and deprivation of economic well being degrade our national morale and precipitate social unrest, thus furthering internal fragmentation and such internal weakness may trigger off hostile actions by potential or actual adversaries. Bangladesh is facing chronic poverty and hunger, high unemployment food shortage, energy crisis, high inflation rate and most importantly price hike of essential commodities of life today which endanger human both security and state security. But public expenditure in these sectors remains less and constant in comparable to expenditure in military affairs severing the non-convention human insecurity. The country has lowest levels of per capita income at US $592 with an estimate about 50% of the population living below the poverty line. The rate of malnutrition is high with 71 percent o the children suffering from this problem. The daily calorie supply is only 83% of the requirement. Only 6 percent of the people have access to sanitation, 49% safe water and 45 percent to health service. Our economy also experienced 11.60% inflation in last year. Besides, prices hike of essential commodity more than 35% at average caused unbearable human sufferings these days. Unemployment because of low pubic measurement and low investment multiply the problem gigantically. According to the latest information from statistics Bureau (2007) living cost has increased 20% along line with price hike 30-35% present military backed government’s indifference to the continuing price hike made the general life at stake. The internal economic threats identified are foreign aid dependence and the consequent debt crisis foreign aid produces security concerns as a result of its intrinsic nature of domination and manipulation by others. Interest on debt would take12.6% highest expenditure in current budget. The annual average rate of inflation is increasing year by year which can create social unrest.

We see maze of human rights violation, crimes, terrorist bombing, and insurgency jeopardizing lives of people in our country. They cannot enjoy freedom of thought, social liberty, civil liberty or even individual liberty in their own way. Political instability and military intervention in the public life also hamper the most frequently stated security assumption of today. Besides, societal security issues such as dowry, persecution, and rape, throwing acid on human endanger the both human and state security as well. Bangladesh ranks one of most disaster prone countries of the world. Environmental disasters like cyclone, flood tornadoes, storm surges visit the country almost every year. During the last 38 years, the country was visited by 38 cyclones of varying intensities. Flood is also visiting us quiet regularly. Some low profile environmental problems can harm us lot, as increasing salinity in tidal areas, water logging, presence of arsenic in under ground waters etc. But this is a debated issue that how much priorities are given these environmental problems in comparison with military security.

A comparison of the last three major floods- 1987, 1988 & 1998 would reveal sustained increase in the depth of inundation and duration of floods, although causes and circumstances of the three episodes were different. But it is clear if the government gave higher priorities with enough resource allocation then the amount cost would lessen. The magnitude of devastation is increasing day by day also with the new areas flooded if we see the last 60 years flood scenario of Bangladesh. Water logging problem beside the flood problem is also a security threat to the people of southern area of the country. Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) estimates that at present 1, 10,000 hectors of land with 9, 00,000 people in nine thanas in Khulna, Jessore & Satkhira Districts are waterlogged. Bangladesh has been exposed to arsenic poisoning of its ground water on an ever-increasing scale. A report suggests that Bangladesh is confronted with the risks of poisoning of 95 million of its 150 million people. The increase of salinity is also another big problem for the tidal areas. The problem is fueled with the shrimp cultivation without proper method.

Redefining security in Bangladesh though seems to be horde of dilemma but it requires to be done in order to create a better home for the generation coming next. Threats to human life and livelihood as well as the environment they live with today are greater than ever seen which indicates an atmosphere we can hardly anticipate. Moreover, changes in scale and intensity of security issues increased the prospective crises in both human and environmental concerns appeared to endanger state security too. Therefore, non-traditional approach to traditional security emerged in the forefront of interface between them. It is widely viewed in the contemporary security thinking that by addressing human security, state security can better be assured. From a bottom up approach individual security such as crimes, drugs, food shortage, price hike, violation of civil and social rights are signaling imminent crises in our country. Besides, on-military threats both individual and state including confrontational politics, riots, social unrest, corruption, religious extremism and natural disasters constitute an emergency security threats to the country’s survival and development. On the other hand, looking beyond a cognitive military centric perception of security, non-traditional security should be addressed by means of traditional security. Bangladesh poses a very prospective maritime zone (five times larger than its land territory) with unlimited natural resources but because of absence of a powerful navy it cannot safeguard this natural gift. In coming future, in order to manage the growing demands of its citizens, these maritime resources will have profound implication. Therefore to ensure non-traditional security, Bangladesh should promote a well-equipped modern Navy and effective coast guard to protect its maritime resources.

Finally, Bangladesh should adopt a time fitting security strategy from a non-conventional approach to ensure safety of succeeding generation and to protect ecological balance, because-

A tree can ensure more security than a tank.