Rural Forum: Chandpara Village

On July 13 2016, a rural forum was held at Chadpara Senior Madrasah to enable rural citizens living in the Chandpara village to present their views on the development priorities for Bangladesh.

A total of 36 participants from a variety of professions in rural area were present, including 11 teachers, 7 farmers, 5 businessmen, 2 elected local government representatives, 1 local doctor, 1 electrician, 1 government employee, 1 private sector employee, 2 students, 1 religious leader of the local mosque and 3 other job holders.

There was a lively debate and fruitful discussion regarding the top development priorities for Bangladesh. A majority of participants ranked “Boost Agricultural Productivity” as number one priority, focusing on Bangladesh’s overwhelming dependency on agricultural production and economy based on it. As one Participant commented

 Everyone knows Rangpur has Monga problem, we cannot feed our people two times a day. We need to increase our agricultural productivity to feed all people of Bangladesh.” 

Together, the rural forum participants ranked the following as the top 5 highest priority solutions for Bangladesh.

• Boost agricultural productivity
• Psycho Social stimulation for stunting
• Delay child marriage with subsidies
• Newborn homecare by health workers
• Land records digitization