Perspectives
Only a Creamy Layer
BANGLADESH was born with the stigma of being one of the poorest countries of the world. Although it is not exactly known where are we placed now according to the socio-economic index of the World Bank or IMF, but being an identified LDC (least developed country) this country is still somewhere at the bottom of the developmental pyramid. Yet routine praises were showered on the country for its progress and prosperity by myriad dignitaries visiting Bangladesh from time to time. They also spoke high of the leadership of the incumbent government for bringing about such transformation thus affording the person or party in power some mileage in domestic politics. The dignitaries cannot be fully blamed for the praises they shower almost customarily. The visitors who are usually hosted by the government are, in the first place, obliged not to embarrass their host with adverse remarks on the state of the governance. On the balance all governments are beneficiary of the practice. Moreover, their complimentary observations are also based on what they come across during a conducted visit usually of short duration.
And there is indeed no dearth of the signs of progress to impress any outsider. He can be convinced of a measure of prosperity from a large number of gleaming cars in our city streets, the lavishly furnished bungalows they visit for cocktail parties or mega social events attended by smartly turned out elegant guests. The crowded diplomatic parties are jostled by chic women and westernised gentry. They also come across crowds in costly restaurants and large presence of buyers in expensive shops selling luxury goods. Added to these are the numbers of persons going aboard for routine medical checkup, wards of rich parents studying overseas and families going to Hong Kong or Singapore simply on holiday or shopping. Any observant visitor gets to know these statistics within no time of his arrival from the compatriots living in the sole metropolis of Bangladesh. Even the first impression makes his eyebrows rise - how can Bangladesh be poor even if once it was! After all there is plenty of the display of prosperity on the road, in posh housing society and colourful shopping plazas.
An outsider can be easily led to have a bloated impression of our "prosperity" but for us, it would just be illusory. Because we know exactly what lies beyond these small isles of affluence that dazzle equally us and an outsider. We know upto the hilt what a vast unfathomable sea of impoverishment lies all around us. Only intriguing question that remains unanswered to many of us is as to who are these nouveau riche and how could they have tapped up hidden treasures sustaining them with so much of abundances? There was a time when we could know of those sources in case of 90 per cent of the people we knew. Now it has dwindled down to bare 10 per cent at the most. They live in a strange mysterious world which remains by and large impenetrable. All we know is that their incomes are fabulous, even if illegal. So there are competitions and temptations to spend recklessly and ostentatiously. Because savings can expose the holders of illegal money.
Where then is the source of all these wealth and ostentatious spending? Let us begin with Tk 13,000 crore defaulted bank loan which has been accumulating over the years. Our national riches were mercilessly siphoned off to the personal accounts even of the policy makers. The banks were used as instruments of state coercion to punish political opponents and benefit the men of the establishment. The bank loans were given to the privileged few and favoured ones without adequate securities, as it appears, with connivance of the bank authorities. Most of them defaulted because they took the loan with no intention of returning it. As the practice goes, on one pretence or other the big shares of the loan are perhaps ultimately written off under pressure and political manipulation.
There has been speculation about the size of the black or tax evaded economy. It has been estimated by some as high as 100 per cent of the regular economy. Even if there is an element of exaggeration in it because there is no tax on agricultural products and the multinationals and salaried persons usually pay their tax it would still be no less than 50-60 per cent of our economy. This huge black money has invariably found its way to a consumption-oriented profligate lifestyle creating in the process a false economy in the country. Evasion of taxes on imports including the smuggled goods has been estimated as something enormous. It is said that if everyone pays his income tax according to the law the revenue collection could rise three to four times of its present level. There is heavy evasion of taxes in the service sector, particularly trade and high paying professions like doctors and lawyers.
Next is, of course, the large income that comes from graft money and remains unaccounted. The transactions of bribes are always off the record and the exact amount involved in each deal cannot be known unless authentically enquired into. The possession of graft money by corrupt people becomes palpable only when it spills into their lifestyle. Nowadays, one can see enough evidence of it almost without an effort. Although bribes are pervasive in our country, the depth and extent of corruption in the police, taxation and customs is ghastly. A visit to a custom or income tax officer's home and their property show how 'overpaying' these services are! Some of the ostensible glamour of our social life give expression to these illgotten money.
There are (no denying) vantage appointments in the government which make big deals of purchase with the foreign concerns. In each deal the person holding those appointments may quietly pocket huge amount of kickback and commission part of which can be 'usually' kept in hard currencies in foreign bank. This partly explains the allegation how the wards of some 'fortunate' bureaucrats are educated and groomed in foreign countries and they themselves possess houses abroad. And they can turn to a high-profile social life with impunity by becoming bonafide members of the local elite. Our elite class is after all an exclusive club affiliation to which is extended to the people only through camaraderie, blood relationship, business connection, parochial belonging with, of course, political like-mindedness working as an additional glue to hold them together.
Among the senior government officers those who do not take to outright corruption have several legitimised means of becoming rich. They can be favoured with a commercial or residential plot in Dhaka or Chittagong even if some of them have inherited ancestral house or part of it in either of these cities. This provides an instant financial jump enabling them to earn to the tune of crores through its disposal.
If one has to be made rich, there are myriad ways of making him so. Give him a good posting where the money would flow in - either in fair or foul ways. But if he is well meaning person, give him a posting abroad. After a stint of a couple of years he would be baptised to an elitist way of life. No slot? One can be created if someone has really to be obliged. There are many precedences of creating slots in our country. If not anything, their are contracts, trade licenses, permits, agencies and so on. These used to be favourite means for some of our past regimes to placate their potential opponents or simply to favour their favourites. If nothing else, just institute a commission and make your chosen person to head it with any rank, status and salary. Only prerequisite is to be on the right side of the establishment. All these would ensure instant production of elite without pang, toil or time with visible prosperity at least in the urban society.
Ours is an extremely poor country but with a sizeable ultra-rich class. It has not come up at its own, it has been propped up to serve the purposes of the system and at times of the establishment. They have unlimited money. Money easily made is easily spent. As they say counterfeit money circulates faster than genuine, so the black money circulates fast and is visible everywhere. Its result is the visible roaring prosperity witnessed by the baffled outsiders. And obviously it gives a spur to corruption among the powerful and to crimes by some other. Notwithstanding creamy toppings the broth underneath is not only poorly cooked, it is also composed of poor ingredients.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments