Common people’s involvement in strategies is much needed to cut poverty in South Asia, economists told an international conference yesterday, adding that only strengthening institutions will not help much. Chairman of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Rehman Sobhan said promotion of micro enterprises, broadening of safety nets and creating employment opportunities are poverty alleviation measures, but not the ways of poverty eradication.

The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) organised two-day conference to mark its golden jubilee. Academics from home and abroad presented keynote papers. The Daily Star is the media partner of the event.

Chairing session on challenges of inequalities and poverty, Professor AR Khan, professor emeritus of University of California, collective management rather than individual management of resources is needed to address the poverty issue in South Asia.

He also argued for a comprehensive land reform in the region to address the poverty.

Citing Grameen Bank as an example, Prof Sobhan the public sector can take a lesson to address poverty in the region.

He said 40 percent ownership of Grameen Bank belongs to 500,000 women in Bangladesh, which helps a lot in poverty reduction.

Presenting a paper titled ‘Inequality in Access to Education and Its Impact on the Labour Market: A Vicious Cycle’, Research Director of BIDS, Rushidan Islam Rahman said the elite group is less concerned for quality education in public universities.

Professor Arthur MacEwan of University of Massachusetts said, “Regardless of how one defines poverty — whether in terms of people’s absolute or relative condition, or as I have advocated, a combination of relative and absolute considerations — income distribution (and wealth distribution) cannot be excluded from consideration.”

He presented paper on ‘The Meaning of Poverty Questions of Distribution and Power’.

Commenting on the keynote papers, economist Hossain Zillur Rahman said social norms define the poverty line in a country. Poverty must be considered from multi-dimensional aspects, he added.

In another session on ‘Rural Development: Prospects and Challenges for Bangladesh’, Executive Director of BRAC Mahbub Hossain said a major change in the livelihood system has been a reduction in the dependence of land-poor households on the agricultural labour market.