Selim Mashiur, Cumilla (South)

The implementation of government-private initiatives in various service sectors for poverty alleviation and welfare of unemployed youth in all upazilas including Laksam in the southern part of Comilla are at risks and thousands of youth are currently living an unemployed life due to lack of necessary industrialization.

According to local sources, the issue of unemployment, food security and malnutrition in the region has emerged as a complex problem. Employment is the main tool to free poor people from poverty. But although employment opportunities at the government and private levels have increased in the country, its goal in this region is very slow.

Although the country has made great progress during the 15 years of the previous government's rule, especially in human resource development, education, health, nutrition, safe water and sanitation, energy, infrastructural development, gender equality, women's empowerment, local government structure development, environmental balance, information and communication, the people of this region have not received services due to irregularities and irresponsibility of the relevant officials in various sectors.

The sources further said that currently, in the greater Laksam upazila in the southern part of the district, there has been instability in business and commerce for the past 3 years due to the pandemic corona, natural disasters including floods and the 5 August-July movement.

As new employment is not created locally, poverty is also increasing day by day along with unemployment. The region has a free market economy, an investment-friendly environment, skilled manpower and all commercial facilities for public and private investment and expansion of business and commerce. There is a great lack of public or private entrepreneurs in this region to build planned industrialization and infrastructural development like the rest of the country.

Several local cooperatives said that although some talk about building a digital Bangladesh for the welfare of poverty alleviation and unemployed youth, the current index of this main tool, the information technology sector, is extremely disappointing. Bangladesh is ranked 26th in this sector with an average of 4.28 and 1.01 points in South Asia. However, despite doing so much work for the welfare of unemployed youth in China, they are ranked 9.6 in the information technology index.

Several sources of local businessmen said that due to the demand for agricultural and fishery-based investment in the southern upazilas of the district and its geographical location, it is possible to build large-scale industrial enterprises in a short time at low cost.

Greater Laksam, known as the birthplace of the only female Nawab of the Indian subcontinent, Nawab Faizunnesa, has been carrying a special tradition in the political, economic, cultural and educational fields for centuries. Out of the approximately 170 million people in the country, 80 million are lower-middle class and 30 million are extremely poor, and out of the remaining 60 million people, 165,000 are rich and the remaining 435,000 are middle class. In a country where 60 percent of the people are poor, it is normal to be unemployed.

Despite repeated attempts to reach several industrial entrepreneurs including the local administration on their mobile phones, it was not possible to get any comment from them.