Shamarukh Mohiuddin

BANGLADESH has come a long way from being perceived as the "basket case" that Henry Kissinger infamously termed it early in the 1970s. Just this past decade, Bangladesh achieved a reasonable good economic growth rate of around 5.0 per cent, in spite of almost continuous strikes and other political disruptions.

The economic growth creates a sizeable middle class. What this means is that distribution of national income facilitated the growth of the middle class. The middle class is now less dependent on the government or state enterprises for jobs and income.

Bangladesh's steadily growing middle class, estimated at over 10 per cent of the population, should not take long to catch up with Pakistan's 18 per cent or India's 30 per cent. According to a report, the percentage of the poor in Bangladesh has dropped from over 60 per cent in the 1980s to about 45 per cent in 2000s. Despite sparse data, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the middle class in Bangladesh is growing and rapidly.

A clinical analysis attributes the growth of middle class to a rapidly growing service sector, increasing inflow of migrant remittances, which by far, outweighs foreign aid, and the new trend among the young do go for self-employment and entrepreneurship.

The transformation that Dhaka city has undergone over the last couple of years is so visible. During a visit to Dhaka last year, after almost a six year hiatus, I saw the city, dotted with new restaurants, coffee shops, malls and other new avenues for the growing middle class to spend.

About nine years ago, the opening of a brand new theme park, Fantasy Kingdom, fulfilled the dreams of urban kids, keen to ride roller coasters and bumper cars. One barely remembers "Shishu Park" where many of us have baby pictures. The opening of Fantasy Kingdom, however, prompted debates about the need for a shiny new theme park when so many problems continue to plague Bangladesh, and so many children still beg on the streets.

Yes, inequality in Bangladesh remains quite stark. And, so many people still earn less than what the privileged pay as entry fee at the new theme park. But the growing middle class should be seen as a boon for Bangladesh. If the government cuts red tape, facilitates investment and efficiently collects the taxes to use them to lift the poor, the middles class would also swell further.

However, whether or not the government does what it should do, the chicken has already hatched. The question is which way the chicken will run. The growing middle class, which now participates more frequently in civil society matters, is in a stronger position to influence political and economic management. But it is yet to be clear, whether or not, they would, with their growing influence, demand better governance, fairness, and transparency, and other institutional and legal reforms.

Some of the trends are, no doubt, encouraging. The middle class is already asking for fairer property rights, access to credit, and better policies to improve the investment climate. The demands, if met by the government, could enhance the prosperity of the middle class and enlarge the size of the economy.

But it is worth asking whether the middle class wants the change that will help the many. As their living standards rise, along with their appetite for more automobiles, homes and consumer durables, will these middle income folks also demand better checks on political power and more investment for public good such as education, health and rural roads?

On top of it all, will the middle class play it fair? Would it pay the due taxes? Would it avoid inveterate rent-seeking practices to shut out many only to benefit a few? Will they avoid bribing law enforcement officials, school headmasters, healthcare institutions or company officials for protecting the narrow interest of some at the cost of many?

Would it be too much to expect that the middle class would do what their counterparts in a successful society like Chile have done? One would also hope it will also start making louder demands for ethnic and religious minority rights, equal opportunities in the workplace, better stewardship of the environment, and other things that the voiceless and poor cannot ask for.

The middle class should not only ask for meaningful and ambitious political reforms, to create a level economic playing field for all Bangladeshis, but also to provide enlightened leadership in tackling future risks facing Bangladesh, ranging from religious extremism to environmental destruction caused by global warming.

The growing Bangladeshi middle class, one hopes, would certainly rise to the occasion.