Momtaz, Salim; (1990) Rural development and the problem of access: The case of the integrated rural development programme in Bangladesh. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Rural development programmes are normally regarded as necessary for alleviating mass rural poverty in the Developing World, but to be successful they must reach small farmers and the landless. The available evidence suggests that major rural development programme instituted by the Bangladesh Government in the 1960s, the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), has failed to assist the poorer sections of the rural community to any great extent. Although recently re-designed to provide better access to its services for small farmers and the landless, it will be argued that the main reason for its continuing failure to meet their needs arises from their variable access to land and other private resources which together limit the advantages to be acquired from the goods and services provided under the IRDP. Understanding the process by which access is differentiated is, therefore, crucial to designing improvements to existing programmes and to developing appropriate institutions for those who lack access. This study is an attempt to understand this process. Data have been collected through interviews with officials responsible for the IRDP at all levels of its operation and from the Sherpur Upazila Central Cooperative Association (UCCA) in Bogra District of north-west Bangladesh. Farmers and landless people in two villages in that upazila (sub-district), one employing the IRDP and the other not, have been interviewed. The surveys show that in principle the IRDP can work effectively on behalf of the rural poor but its impact is greatly reduced in practice by a complex and poorly supervised administration at the local level and weak links with potential recipients. The ownership of material assets, especially land, and the individual's position in the local power structure, remain the determining factors in the receipt of benefits from the IRDP.

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