The Struggle for the Rights and Justice of Marginalized Communities in Bangladesh
by Rita Bhowmick (Dhaka Bureau)
A country’s budget is not merely a collection of dry numbers; rather, it is a moral mirror reflecting how sensitive a state is toward its weakest and most marginalized citizens. However, parallel to Bangladesh’s long-standing economic growth, the vast majority of marginalized people- family farmers, rural women, indigenous communities, the youth, the urban poor, and the landless- have historically remained deprived of their budgetary partnership with the state.
On Monday (May 18) morning, during a high-level roundtable discussion held at the Azimur Rahman Hall of ‘The Daily Star’ office in the capital, Dhaka, prominent intellectuals, journalists, and grassroots representatives spoke in unison, demanding- ‘Direct participation and fair allocation for marginalized communities must be ensured from the formulation of the national budget to its implementation and overall monitoring.’
In this dialogue organized by the Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), the research organization ‘CRD‘ presented an in-depth study report titled ‘Fair Allocation, Partnership, Implementation, and Monitoring for Marginalized Communities in the National Budget.’
‘The State Takes from Everyone, But Does Not Spend for Everyone’
Highlighting a harsh truth at the roundtable discussion, prominent journalist and social thinker Sohrab Hasan said, ‘The vast majority of the country’s population is marginalized, but unfortunately, no effective relationship has been established between them and the state. Although the state earns revenue from everyone through taxes, it does not maintain equality for everyone when it comes to spending. No matter how large the budget is, if it is not distributed on the basis of equity, that development is meaningless.’
Criticizing the bureaucratic budget structure, another prominent journalist, Abu Sayeed Khan, remarked, ‘The core foundation of development should be people-centric projects. But in reality, we see that people are being used for the sake of projects. The state runs on the money of grassroots people, so budget management must be decentralized immediately.’
Specific and Historic Budget Proposals for 6 Key Sectors
While presenting the study, Gazi Sarwardi, Head of Research at CRD, outlined revolutionary allocations in six specific sub-sectors for the country’s marginalized population in the upcoming FY 2026-2027 budget:
1. Protection of 63 Million Family Farmers (Proposed Allocation: BDT 109,703 Crore)
A massive allocation has been demanded for family farmers, who are the primary architects of the country’s food security. This includes ensuring ‘Farmer Cards’ for all poor and marginalized farmers, purchasing crops directly from farmers to ensure fair prices, and increasing the capacity of government food warehouses nationwide.
2. Empowerment of Over 60 Million Rural Women (Proposed Allocation: BDT 104,451 Crore)
Demands were made to provide 100% ‘Family Cards’ to rural women, expand eco-friendly agricultural technologies, offer e-commerce and digital marketing support to rural women entrepreneurs, and secure social safety nets for widowed and deserted women. Additionally, a separate allocation is crucial to prevent violence against women at the local level.
3. Safeguarding the Rights of 5.2 Million Indigenous People (Proposed Allocation: BDT 9,115 Crore)
To get accurate statistics on historically deprived indigenous people, a proposal was made to launch a special ‘Indigenous Census’. Demands were also raised to form a separate ‘Land Commission’ with a special 5-year budget to protect the land of plainland indigenous groups, and to allocate BDT 1,000 crore for the relocation of willing Bengali settlers from the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the plains.
4. Development of One-Fifth Youth Power (Proposed Allocation: BDT 61,805 Crore)
A call was made to restructure the budget by prioritizing the country’s youth in human resource development, entrepreneurship, vocational education, digital skills, mental health, and safe migration, so that the youth can truly become the driving force of the nation.
5. Housing for 13.3 Million Urban Poor (Proposed Allocation: BDT 23,177 Crore)
Emphasis was placed on undertaking long-term housing projects for the urban poor and slum dwellers using non-agricultural government khas (vested) land, establishing low-interest housing loan funds, and launching sustainable social security programs for them.
6. Land and Agrarian Reform for 125 Million People (Proposed Allocation: BDT 216,318 Crore)
Speakers made it clear that changing the fortune of marginalized people is impossible without radical reforms in land, agriculture, and water bodies. For this, they demanded the formation of a permanent ‘National Land, Agrarian Reform, and Environmental Protection Commission’ and a specific allocation to reclaim government khas land and water bodies according to CS (Cadastral Survey) records.
Let the Budget Belong to the People
Moderated by Rowshan Jahan Moni, Deputy Executive Director of ALRD, the panel discussion brought to light an inescapable truth- although the national budget is a major tool for economic progress in any developing country, marginalized people are falling behind due to gender, regional, or ethnic identities.
If the upcoming budget for FY 2026-2027 is to be viewed not just as a paper document of economic growth, but as an instrument for building a humane and egalitarian society, policymakers must listen to the voices of these 125 million marginalized people. A budget can never be inclusive or sustainable without the active participation of grassroots representatives.
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The Author:
Rita Bhowmick: Senior journalist and Staff Correspondent, Pressenza- Dhaka Bureau.
