Formulate nat'l policy for service sectors

They said service sectors should not be privatised on wholesale basis following the prescription of international lending agencies.

The seminar titled 'Public services and public rights' was organised by Sushasoner Jonno Procharavijan (Supro), an NGO, at the National Press Club in the city.

The seminar was organised to mark the Asia region's conference of World Social Forum-2006 which is scheduled to be held at Karachi in Pakistan from March 24 to 29.

The speakers observed that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening day by day due to privatisation of service sectors like health, education and telecommunication.

It is often assumed that the private sector is more efficient than the public sector, but both empirical studies and theory suggest that this assumption is wrong, they added.

The speakers said major causes of malfunctioning of public service sectors in poor countries are corruption and bureaucracy which are in turn absolutely political problems.

Privatisation, therefore, induces corruption by transferring economic and political power to an interest group that rarely represents the poor, they added.

Terming education a very significant sector, the speakers said privatisation of education would cut the access of common people to it.

They also expressed concern over foreign direct investment and said it will replace labour intensive industry by technology-based one and will make many people jobless.

Presenting the keynote paper, Md Shamsuddoha of Supro said privatisation of service sectors will reduce the growth of underprivileged class while the state will lose its welfare image.

Awami League lawmaker Dr Abdur Razzak, BNP lawmaker Tasnim Rana, Gonotantrik Party lawmaker Monoranjan Sheel Gopal, JSD General Secretary Abdul Malek Ratan, and Rokeya Kabir from BNPS spoke at the seminar moderated by Supro President Abdul Awal.