Dhaka, Aug 27 (V7N) – Prime Minister's Adviser on Finance and Planning Prof Dr Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir today said violence against women has reached its highest level in the past 17 years, with the reality on the ground failing to match the development narrative of the ousted government .

"However much the ousted government talked about development, there is no consistency between the development indicators and reality," he said .

Dr Titumir was speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled "Land Rights and Violence against Women in Rural Bangladesh", organised by the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital . The seminar highlighted that 72 percent of victims of land-related disputes and violence are women, with 80 percent of them remaining outside the judicial process due to costs and legal complexities .

He said violence within families persists when the state itself becomes violent. "When a state seeks to govern through fear, it creates a culture of fear through every step, and that also spreads into families," he said . He noted that various indicators of patriarchy had increased significantly over the past 17 years .

The adviser said the number of poor people had increased due to inherited problems, with around one crore people becoming poor from the lower-income group according to some estimates . "After the previous government's social safety-net programmes ended, it was found that the number of poor people in the country had increased by one crore," he said, adding that the previous government had merely spread an empty narrative of development .

"We want to learn from the past. We want women to be beneficiaries throughout every stage of their lives. Our government wants to ensure their rightful entitlements during childhood, motherhood and old age," he said .

Dr Titumir stressed the need for movements and struggles to establish people's rights and ensure state accountability . "There is no alternative to movements and struggles, as we have to try to establish our rights through these means and bring the state under accountability," he said .

Referring to healthcare, he said the government aims to improve the quality of health services and upgrade upazila hospitals to 101 beds. He recalled that upazila hospitals were upgraded to 20 beds during the tenure of Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and later to 50 beds during the tenure of Begum Khaleda Zia . The government, under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's leadership, wants to upgrade the hospitals to 101 beds to bring healthcare closer to the people .

Dr Titumir urged people to play their role in implementing the concept of "one village, one product" and called for initiatives involving organisations such as PKSF, BRDB and SME Foundation to promote rural economic activities . He also stressed the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and expand solar power use .

ALRD Chairperson Khushi Kabir chaired the discussion .

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