Editorial, News & commercial office:
55/A, H M Siddique Mansion (Level-7), Purana Paltan, Motijhel C/A, Dhaka-1000. Phone: +8802226640056,
e-mail: [email protected], [email protected]
Professor Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir
Adviser to the Prime Minister for Finance and Planning Professor Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir has asserted that violence against women surged to unprecedented levels over the past seventeen years, dismissing previous developmental narratives promoted by the ousted administration as disconnected from ground realities.
Speaking as the chief guest at a seminar titled "Land Rights and Violence Against Women in Rural Bangladesh," held at the CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital on Thursday, Dr. Titumir remarked that societal violence mirrors state-sponsored oppression.
"When a state turns violent and attempts to govern through fear, it cultivates a culture of terror that ultimately permeates every household, resulting in a staggering escalation of patriarchal aggression over the past seventeen and a half decades."
Organized by the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD) and chaired by ALRD Chairperson Khushi Kabir, the event brought together various scholars and activists.
Addressing economic disparities, the adviser stated that inheritance complications and structural neglect have driven nearly one million individuals from lower-middle-income brackets into poverty, particularly following the termination of prior social safety net programs, exposing the empty rhetoric of past growth metrics.
"We want to learn from the past and ensure that women are beneficiaries across every stage of their life cycle—from childhood and maternity to their twilight years—securing the rights our government is committed to delivering."
Highlighting the imperative of civic engagement, Dr. Titumir emphasized that sustained activism remains indispensable for securing rights and compelling state accountability, echoing the Prime Minister's continuous emphasis on institutional transparency.
Unveiling upcoming healthcare reforms, the adviser noted that after successive expansions under former presidents and premiers—moving from twenty beds during the tenure of martyred President Ziaur Rahman to fifty beds under Begum Khaleda Zia—the current administration under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman plans to elevate sub-district hospitals to 101 beds to universalize grassroots medical access.
Furthermore, he outlined state commitments to progressively elevate health sector expenditure to five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the next five years, fulfilling constitutional directives necessary to build a democratic, humane, and wifare-oriented state.
Calling for grassroots economic revitalization, the adviser urged citizens to champion the "One Village, One Product" framework, enlisting state bodies such as Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDR), and SME Foundation. He additionally advocated for a decisive shift away from fossil fuels toward widespread solar energy adoption across rural schools and municipal offices.
