PM's poverty alleviation speech in Shanghai

She has actually tried to carry two points with the high-profile audience, one in the form of a recommendation; and the other, an insight she wanted to share with the decision-makers on the global economic stage. She argued that the rich-poor resource gap is too yawning to be bridged by the instrumentality of overseas development assistance (ODA) alone. Her recipe, therefore, is that a new global financial arrangement be evolved drawing upon worldwide development levies, which would be geared to ensuring fair-play and justice for the poor. This is a very good proposal, but one cannot be too sure with a global common fund idea; given the fact that poverty in some developed countries themselves is a low priority as it is losing out before a maddening spree for arms race and the increasing investments to fight terror.

The second point she made is 'reforms are necessary, but not sufficient for poverty alleviation.' Crucially, the poor need equal opportunities to participate in the global free market gainfully. They cannot compete globally unless they are given access to education, health, electricity and information highway. This is a pointer to the critical dose of investment required by the poorer countries. Obviously, a synergy is imperative between global and national efforts to make a dent on poverty.

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The prime minister highlighted the brighter aspects of Bangladesh's experience with development pursuits. No doubt this helped boost the country's image. But we cannot be oblivious of the fruits of development not reaching the poorer majority of the country's population. The GDP growth rate this fiscal is set to reach a higher notch than 5.26 percent recorded last year. And the pattern for some years has been 5 percent plus growth rate which is so heartening. But look at the percolation side to it. The rich-poor gap has exacerbated with the affluent becoming more opulent and the poor becoming poorer. This is basically a national microcosm of what's happening at the macro level globally. Distributive justice will have to be ensured -- that is the moral of the whole poverty alleviation discourse -- both nationally and internationally.