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Debt relief

19 July 2005, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Zeenat Z. Syed UPS eDeployment
19 July 2005, 18:00 PM
This year G8 Summit is aimed to address poverty especially in African countries. The G8 nations have pledged to provide debt relief to poverty-stricken countries and celebrities have used their support to raise consciousness among citizens of various countries. There is no denying that we are a poverty-stricken country. That fact is made clear by the number of beggars we see all around us, by the condition of living in the slums. It becomes even clearer when we see under aged children bearing the burden of earning an income for their families when they should be enjoying their youth and gaining education.

For all intents and purposes, Bangladesh deserves debt relief. The need for debt relief may seem like an insult and embarrassment to the educated that are capable of living a comfortable life. But it will go a long way to send a child from a large family to school or to actually provide agricultural subsidies etc, instead of having to pay the IMF back.

But the question that probably comes to mind is that if Bangladesh does get debt relief who will benefit? Will the government officials end up filling their pockets with the money or will it actually be put into use for subsidies, programmes etc. that really help the poor and the needy?

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We need to make sure that the proper individuals or groups are benefited from this. If we are not able to guarantee this we do not deserve debt relief to already line the pockets of individuals who are comfortably placed.