Development Disparity and Rangpur Division: Problems and Prospects

Authors/ Publisher: Md. Pias Hossain and Md. Morshed Hossain, PhD

Abstract:

One of Bangladesh's most undeveloped areas, Rangpur Division's development has difficulties, which this study highlights. The study's authors combined three key informant interviews, one focus group discussion, and direct information gathering from 120 local residents via purposive sampling surveys and also relied on credible data from sources including the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and SDGs Progress Reports.  Use of interviews and questionnaires to gather primary data on community viewpoints on agricultural practices and concerns, including food insecurity, educational possibilities, infrastructure situations, healthcare services, and industrial growth in the Rangpur area. Combining concepts from several data sources helps the study understand the developmental issues the Rangpur area faces.  Data analysis shows that 91.8% of the respondents expressed a lack of industrialization.  One of the most important industries for development is agriculture.  As 86% of the respondents say, the agricultural sector is the most important one.  Currently, the factors reducing agricultural output include inadequate access to modern technologies (69.6%) and better seeds (58.2%).  Key causes of economic stagnation we find to be poor investment (46.7%) and high unemployment (38.5%).  Moreover, 78.7% wish to extend agricultural technologies to boost output, while 87.7% link unplanned housing development to loss of agricultural land.  The report points up various structural impediments to development, including unequal budget allocation, inadequate industrial investment, and a small number of young career paths.  The results suggest that concentrated investments in industrialization, infrastructure, and education will help solve local inequities. Furthermore, true needs are more impartial resource allocation and disaster resilience techniques to strengthen Rangpur's socioeconomic framework.

Keywords: Development, Unequal, Budget, Socioeconomic, Rangpur

JEL Classification: O18, R11, I30, O10