Poverty in Rangpur halved in 6 years

Staff Correspondent: Manga, poverty – these words had become the image of Rangpur. It was known as the most poverty-stricken area in the country. That Rangpur has now shown success in reducing poverty. In just six years, the poverty rate in this category has halved.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) latest Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2022, poverty in 8 districts of Rangpur Division stood at 24.8 percent. In 2016, the poverty rate in this category was 47.2. No other category has recorded such a rapid reduction in poverty in a span of six years.
Due to this success of Rangpur, its long-standing reputation as the most poverty-stricken area has also disappeared. Overtaking Rangpur, Barisal division now has the highest poverty rate, 26.9 percent.

Dr Enayet Karim, President of the Global Economist Forum said some of the possible reasons why the poverty rate has decreased so much in Rangpur. He said, it is understandable that manga has decreased in Rangpur region. Due to the improved communication system, the job seekers of Rangpur have migrated to different parts of the country. Apart from this, people from that region are going abroad more than before. Poverty can be reduced due to these reasons. In addition, increased access to financial services on mobile phones has helped reduce poverty.
Rangpur Division was established in 2010 with eight districts namely Rangpur, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Gaibandha. Earlier these districts were under Rajshahi division.
Earlier, 5 of the 10 poorest districts of the country were in Rangpur division. In other words, 5 out of 8 districts of Rangpur were the poorest districts of the country. As of 2016, Kurigram was the poorest district in the country. 71 out of every 100 people lived below the poverty line. Among the 10 poorest districts, the remaining districts of Rangpur division were Rangpur, Dinajpur, Gaibandha and Lalmonirhat.
BBS statistics say that the situation has changed now, but the poverty rate in any district has not been reported in the BBS Household Income and Expenditure Survey. BBS will publish it next year.
Barisal is now poorest area
According to BBS calculations, the poverty rate in Barisal is 26.9. The Barisal region is known as a granary, but there is a slight increase in poverty. In 2016, poverty in that category was 26.5 percent. And the lowest poverty rate is in neighboring Khulna division. The poverty rate of this category is 14.8.
BBS also says that the poverty rate has increased in Dhaka, Barisal and Sylhet divisions in the last six years. Now the poverty rate is 17.9 in Dhaka, 15.8 in Chittagong, 16.7 in Rajshahi, 17.4 in Sylhet, 24.8 in Rangpur and 24.2 in Mymensingh.
In this direction, the overall poverty is 18.7 percent. 6 years ago i.e. in 2016 poverty was 24.3 percent. According to the BBS survey, the extreme poverty rate in the country is 5.6 percent. 6 years ago this rate was 12.9.