3. Demographic Characteristics of Bangladesh.pdf

3. Demographic Characteristics of Bangladesh.pdf

• 1.
  Demographic Characteristics ofBangladesh 1. Population Policy Socio-economic development for all citizens is the cornerstone of Bangladesh’s constitution. According to the articles 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the constitution, the state has the responsibility to ensure its citizens to the certain basic needs such as food, clothing, habitual place, health, education, and security. Population Policy in 1976 had identified population problem as the national problem. The 1976 Policy Outline incorporates population and family planning program as the integral components of overall national development and social reformation programs to ensure improved living standard of the people and to make family size smaller, improve health status for mother and child, family welfare. The objectives of the National Population Policy are to improve the status of family planning, maternal and child health including reproductive health services and to improve the living standard of the people of Bangladesh through making a desirable balance between population and development in the context of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 2. Population of Bangladesh Population is an important factor for the economic and social development of a country. If population is more than the resources of a country, many people become unemployed. Commodities and services fall short and these create food deficit. These problems create economic and social disturbances and hamper economic development. On the other hand, if there is a balance between population and wealth, the supply of labor increases, proper use of resources becomes possible, commodities and services per head increases and standard of living becomes high. So, population of a country should be in harmony with its resources. So the aspects of population is analyzed from different points of view. It is necessary to know what role population can play for the development of the economy and for raising the social standard of life of the people in Bangladesh. For this purpose it is necessary to analyze the aspect of population of this country from different viewpoints which is given below: Size of population: The population of Bangladesh is equivalent to 2.11% of the total world population and its place is 8th in the world. So Bangladesh is one of the densely populated countries in the world. According to Population Census 2011, the population of Bangladesh is 149.3 million and it is just increasing every moment. Such a large number of population in a small country like Bangladesh has made it an over populated country.
• 2.
  Ratio between Maleand Female: According to BBS 2017, the ratio of male to female was 100.3:100. In the developed countries the ratio of female to male is much higher. As for example, the ratio of female to male is 100:96.2 in Japan. It is 100:99.7 in USA and 100:94.3 in England. Distribution of population between villages and town: The socio-economic condition of a country can be known from the distribution of its population between villages and towns. In Bangladesh 27% people are living in the city areas and the rest are living in the villages. In the developed countries the majority of the people live in town. As for instance, percentage of people living in towns is 77 in Japan, 79 in France and 78 in England where as in Bangladesh 80 percent people live in villages. Distribution of population according to labor force: In Bangladesh labor force is very small compared to the size of population. The work force of Bangladesh is 70.86 million. 63% of the total work force is engaged in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. And 11% is engaged in manufacturing and the rest of the population is engaged in different sectors. Distribution of population according to profession: The majority of people in Bangladesh are engaged in agriculture. But in recent times as a result of development of the process of urbanization the transfer of labor force from agriculture to non-agriculture sectors has been increasing. Here we can see that around 65 percent of people are engaged in agriculture where around 25 percent people are engaged in non-agriculture sectors. Birth rate and Death rate: The birth rate in Bangladesh is pretty higher where we see a difference in the rate of death. The birth rate is 25 persons in per thousand and the death rate is 8 persons in per thousand. Though the birth rate is higher but the death rate is pretty lower respectively. So the population is increasing rapidly but it is not actually deducting through the decent way. Literacy rate: According to World Bank, 43% people over age 15 can read and write. This rate of literacy is very low compared to the other countries. For instance, the literacy rate is 73 percent in Sri Lanka, 60 percent in Myanmar and 99 percent in France. Rate of dependency of population: People under 15 and over 64 years of age are regarded as dependents. According to the World Bank, 5.95 people among 100 working people are dependent over others in Bangladesh. So if we wish to count the total dependency, undoubtedly it is a very large percentage. And it is around 50 percent. Rate of population increase in Bangladesh: Bangladesh is one of the densely populated countries of the world. The high rate of population increase (1.1%) during the last few decades has created this situation. Though at percent the rate is high, it was very low in the past.
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  Country Rate ofpopulation increase(in percentage) USA 0.97 Sweden 0.49 Sri Lanka 0.47 Republic of China 0.48 Japan -0.02 India 1.46 Bangladesh 1.67 Figure: The rate of population increase in some countries of the World including Bangladesh 3. Causes of high rate of population increase in Bangladesh The rate of population growth is very high in Bangladesh compared to other countries of the world. There are many social and economic causes behind this high rate of population growth. These are discussed below: a) Social causes: Lack of education: The majority of the people of Bangladesh are illiterate. For this reason they are not aware of the bad effects of population increase. As a result they birth too many children. Social superstitions: Due to lack of education most of the people of Bangladesh are superstitious, conservative and believe in existing dogmas. As a result, they are unwilling to accept family planning measures in many cases. Consequently, population goes on increasing. Absence of liberty of female population: In Bangladesh majority of the women are dependent on male. So they cannot give birth to children according to their will. They do not have any right to determine the number of children. High mortality rate of children: The death rate of children in our country is very high compared to other countries. Here, in Bangladesh 90 children per thousand die every year. So there is a tendency to have more children by the parents in our country. As a result the birth rate is also high. Marriage at under age: In the villages of Bangladesh girls between 14-18 years of age are given to marriage. Such under age marriage gives chances to give birth to more children. b) Economic causes: Poverty: Poverty and tendency to give birth to child go side by side. A large number of people in Bangladesh live below the poverty level. So the tendency to give birth to child is very high among them.
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  Low standard ofliving: The standard of living of the people in Bangladesh is very low due to lack of nutritious food, medical facilities, housing facilities and education etc. The cost of bringing up a child is comparatively less here. So the majority of people are not conscious in this regret. Agricultural economy: Bangladesh is an agricultural country. The farmer class of this country desire to have many children as they will be helpful in their work. So the birth rate is high. Expectation of security in old age: For majority people in Bangladesh there is no security measure in their old age. Most of the people depend on their children at old age. Only for the sake of safety many people are willing to have more children. 4. Density of population The number of people living per square kilometer is called density of population. Density of population calculated by dividing the total number of people of a country by its total area. So, by density of population we mean the ratio between land area and population. The simple equation of calculation density of population is as follows: DP=TP/TA Where, D= density of population TP= total population And PA= total area of the country The total area of a country remaining the same, the density of population increases or decreases respectively at the increase or decrease in the number of population. Generally, the determining factors of density of population of a country are physical feature of land, climate, soil, land area, birth rate, economic development, life style, transportation and communication system, industrial development etc. 5. Density of population in Bangladesh The area of Bangladesh is 147570 square kilometers. The density of population per square kilometer is high compared to other countries of the world. The density of this country has been increasing with the increase in population. The density of population in 1974 was 497 persons per square kilometer. The density of population in Bangladesh is the highest in the world. This can be observed from the following table:
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  Country Density ofpopulation (per square mile) Bangladesh 2850 India 954 Japan 836 Sri Lanka 809 Ireland 153 NewZeland 39 Italy 512 Figure: The density of population in some countries of Asia including Bangladesh 6. Measures to solve population problem in Bangladesh The present size of population in Bangladesh and its growth rate has created many problems. Hence economic development is hampered. So the solutions of these problems are most desirable. The different measures to solve the problem of population of the country are discussed below: Economic development: Economic development is one of the main ways to solve population problems. Rapid economic development can be attained through the development of agriculture and industries. Rapid economic development is also possible through increase of services. As a result economic development and the standard of living of our people will be high. They will develop their outlook in favor of family planning. The rate of population increase will also decline. Spread of education: Educated people are more aware of the necessity of birth control. So to control population the illiterate and superstitious people should be imparted modern education. If their outlook is developed through education. They will try to keep the size of their families small for their own interest. Spread of female education: Half of the total populations of Bangladesh are women. So, they should be motivated to control population. The women folk should be made conscious about the necessity of birth control consequently the program for population control will be successful. Proper distribution of wealth: There exists extreme inequality in the distribution of national income in Bangladesh. Wealth has been concentrated in the hands of a few persons. The majority of people are very poor. If income is distributed properly, income of the poor will increase. Their standard of living will be high. As a result, they will be eager to control population. Multiple employments: Multiple employment facilities should be created in different parts of the country. Facilities to establish cottage industries, poultry firms, dairy firms, fisheries, nurseries, flower
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  gardens etc. shouldbe made throughout the country. As a result of these, the people of Bangladesh will be free from the curses of unemployment and will be accustomed with high standard of living. People of high standard of living will have small families. So, the pressure of population will decrease. Redistribution of population: The density of population is not uniformed in all the districts of Bangladesh. The density of population is very high in the district of Dhaka, Comilla whereas it is very low in Chittagong, Bandarban but if people are transferred from densely populated areas to thinly populated areas, the problem of population will be solved to some extent. Transfer of population internationally: The size of population in many countries is very small. Surplus man power of Bangladesh may be exported to those countries. This will help to solve the problem of over population. Of course, in the meantime the export of man power from Bangladesh to many other countries including Middle East has increased. Promulgation of law: If laws can be promulgated to stop early marriage, marriage more than once and for approval of abortion, the rate of population growth will decreased. Moreover, the age limit of marriage should be extended and maintained. These legal measures will help to decrease the birth rate. Only passing of laws is not sufficient. The application of laws through wide propaganda and mass consciousness should be ensured. Family planning: Family planning means to control the number of members of a family in a planned way. This family planning program can be made popular and successful through some measures. These are removal of superstitions are dogmas through spread of education, motivating people to keep the size of the family small, announcement and propagation about the different methods and medicines of family planning. 7. Need for human resource training and development in Bangladesh The importance of population for economic development of Bangladesh can hardly be denied; especially the skilled manpower is an indispensible factor for economic development. The technological knowledge of the people, awareness for development, natural resources of the country, financial capability and mechanized measured and a proper and pragmatic economic plan can ensure economic progress of the country. Generally, labor force of any economy is termed as human resource. Land and capital of a country is known as physical resources and their proper utilization depend on human resource. For economic development of Bangladesh requires development of human resource for following reasons: Increase in production: Increasing production requires increasing efficiency of labor force. Training and development of workforce can enhance technical knowledge of operating machines, increase speed, sophistication etc.
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  Increasing employment: Developingcountry like Bangladesh most of the unemployed people are unskilled. We have to training them, human resource training and development can enable them to get job that will reduce unemployment problem. Synonymy of economic development and Human Resource Development (HRD): Economic development and HRD closely interconnected to each other. Economic development means improvement of standard of living. HRD requires ensure of education, medical, housing and training facilities for enhancing capabilities of work. The Economic development is a sum of contribution of each and every people’s economic affair. Reducing inequality of income distribution: Increase of income of few people does not indicate economic development. Reducing inequality of income distribution requires enhancing living standard through HRD in all levels of people. Export of human resource: We have scarcity of resources but have a huge population. If we able to make this huge population into human resource than demand for labor force will increase in domestic market as well as abroad. So foreign flow of remittance will contribute to our economic development. Solution of population problem: The main obstacle to our economic development is population problem. If we able to convert them factor of production through training and education than they will take family planning for their own betterment. So we have to take proper steps for economic development through human resource development because some countries even with adequate wealth cannot properly tap their available resources due to lack of skilled manpower, while the countries with over population also cannot achieve development. For this reason it is necessary to have a harmonious balance between resources and population.