Monga is a local term used to indicate acute deprivation caused due to the erosion of purchasing power from lack

of gainful employment opportunities 1. This happens every year during September November (Aswin and artik! in the northern districts. "ecently Monga attracts much political and media attention. The meaning of monga has changed over time. #e have interviewed some local people of $almonirhat and urigram% what they think about monga. The basic idea about monga is given bellow according to&

Monga- In words of victims:

'Aray bahay( Monga is nothing but starvation) Surin *handra( a +, aged old man of $almonirhat. 'Monga is dying from starvation and waiting for dying from starvation) Naren -isshas a young person of $almonirhat. 'No work( no earnings( resulting no money and no ability to purchase food is Monga.) Am.ad /ossian( a 01 aged man of $almonirhat. 'There are available commodities in the market( but no money in the pocket( so no purchasing power that results in starvation and living miserably.) Muslim 2ddin( 31 aged people of $almonirhat. '#hen nothing is to cook( children are consoled by boiling water that rice is cooking.) Amiron 04 aged woman of $almonirhat. 'Monga cannot be e5pressed in words( it is so ferocious that when 6 remember the month of Aswin and artik 6 can7t imagine anything rather than starvation and misery) 8ulbanu 11 aged woman of urigram.

Monga- what others say:

6n round table meeting of 9aily :rothom Alo published on ;; 9ecember( 4,,1 the renowned economist Dr. Uttam Kumar Dev said that( Monga is seasonal unemployment( that7s why no earning of the worker that results in food crisis that leads to starvation. And finally starvation leads to death. The headmaster of Chandrapur Government Primary School named Md. Suru..aman stated that( '-asically in the Month of Aswin and crisis is known as Monga.) artik( a seasonal food crisis is raised in poor people7s home because of seasonal unemployment( this food

This definition is given by Centre For Policy Dialogue CPD!" #angladesh$

The principal of Lalmonirhat Government College said( 'Actually the scarcity of any commodity at any period of time is known as monga. -ut now the term monga differs from the above notion. At present it established as a famine like situation at the month of Aswin and artik.) The Member of Parliament Lalmonirhat!"# Md. Mu<ibur "ahman has given a speech on monga( there he stated that( ' Monga is the cry of north=bangle( shame of our dirty politics. >overnment comes and falls( but no government wants to understand the monga( none of them raise their voice against monga. 6ts actually a national problem and should to make it as a national issue to overcome the misery of poor people in the month of Aswin and artik.) "enowned assistant professor of *armicle *ollege Md. Karim Uddin Said that( Monga is a seasonal food crisis in most of the part of north=bangle during the month of Aswin and artik. -ut this food crisis in not the scarcity of food rather than it is scarcity of purchasing power. -ecause during this period there is no employment opportunity so that( cannot earn money and can7t buy their necessary food and other commodities. 8rom the above discussion we can point out the definition of Monga as follow. o seasonal unemployment during the month of Aswin and artik. o certain areas and certain level of people. o 6t refers to crisis of purchasing power rather than crisis of food and other commodities( because if anyone has money he?she can easily collect his?her necessary commodities. 6t affects Monga is a

Monga is the traditional problem of seasonal poverty in Aswin= artik (September= @ctober! in ecologically vulnerable parts of northern districts. 6n that part of the country people mainly depends on agriculture and in that time period (Aswin= artik! fields of farming are full with growing crops. So farmers have nothing to do and their earning capacity falls. 6t is an ecological crisis( that7s why it e5ists from several decades. 6n recent times some other problems such as flood( population( skyrocketing price( river erosion etc. occurs with monga magnifies its severity. Monga and north -engal is synonymous in present time. -ut not only in northern part of -angladesh( monga e5ist all over the country to various e5tents.

Table ; Monga situation ;AA,

9ivision (:rior to B division! C of households in distress& on ; meal a day for ;=3 days a week in @ctober C of households in e5treme distress& on ; meal a day for 0=+ days a week in @ctober

*hittagong hulna 9haka "a<shahi $ffected Districts% *omilla Noakhali ustia Famalpur 9ina<pur "angpur -ogra "a<shahi

B ; 3 ;E

D D D ;3

;A E ;0 ;4 ;; 41 4E ;4

D D D D D 4B D 4

Source: Hossain Zillur Rahman, Mora Kartik: Seasonal Deficits and Vulnerability of Rural Poor , !n Hossain Zillur Rahman " Mahabub Hossain #ed$%

6n the following table we present the current situation of most affected Monga areas of North -engal with its e5tents.

Table 4 $ist of most affected Monga areas of North "egion

Source: Re&ort on Mon'a in (orthern )an'ladesh, *are )an'ladesh, (o+ember ,--.

Ma%%ing com%arison of Poverty and Monga region:

/ere we preset a recent publication (The 8ood Security Atlas of -angladesh( 4,,0! by the 2nited Nations #orld 8ood :rogram and the government of -angladesh has successfully delineated union level poverty map (possibility of high level of e5treme poverty!. This map may be used for efficient identification of Monga affected areas.

Map 2: Monga stricken areas

&haded areas in the ma%

Source: Ma& / is taken from ma&&in' &o+erty for Rural )an'ladesh, *PD0!RR! Policy )rief 1 " Ma& , is dra2n from announcement of 3o+ernment as mon'a hit re'ion%

The colors in the map ; represent the four Guartiles of the upa.ilas ranked in order of the magnitude of the poverty incidence( with the red showing the top 41C of the upa.ilas with highest incidence of poverty (greater than 0+C!. The areas with highest

incidence of poverty are the depressed basins in Sunamgan<( /abigan<( and Netrokona districts% the northwestern district of kurigram( $almonirhat( Nilphamari and Nawabgan<% and *o57s -a.ar and coastal islands of -hola( /atia and Sandeep. The areas with low levels of poverty are the greater 9haka and -arisal regions( and -ogra( :abna( and Fessore regions. The picture appears to be similar with regard to the severity of poverty. /ere it is clearly observed that monga hit regions fall under the worst Guartile. 6n map 4 we present the monga hit region officially declared by >overnment of -angladesh. 6f we compare two maps side by side we found that monga affected regions are e5ist in worst two Guartile of H5treme :overty Map of -angladesh.

'ature of (ulnerabilities During Monga:

&mployment crisis% The most important e5pression of vulnerability is in the drop in employment opportunities. 6n the following table 3 we present employment drop in some ma<or monga stricken areas in 4,,1 that can depict the overall unemployment situation.

Table=3 Hmployment drop in monga period

2pa.ila? 9istrict Faldhaka? Nliphamary 9omar 9imla "a<arhat? urigram 2lipur *hilmari Saghata?>aibandha 8ulchari Sundargan< 6slampur? Famalpur 9ewangan< -akshigan< Total Average work=days available per week in normal time B.;; 1.4+ 1.A, B.E; B.A; B.14 1.B4 1.33 1.4A B.EE B.BE 1.+; B.;, Average work=days available per week at last Monga period 4.B4 0.3B 3.EB 4.E3 4.1, 4.4A 4.B+ ,.B4 ;.;0 0.+1 1.,, 0.,, 3.,+

Source: Mon'a 4orecast ,--.: 4ield assessment and 5ction Plan% Re&ort &re&ared by Hossain Zillur Rahman% PPR* Po+erty research%

'ther (ulnerabilities% -esides unemployment vulnerabilities there are some other problems e5ist in the same period in the surveyed area that aggravate the monga situation. Table 0 represents the other vulnerabilities.

Table=0 @ther Iulnerabilities 9uring Monga :eriod

@ther Iulnerabilities& 9isease Suffering from cold #omen7s insecurity C of respondents reporting +E.; 41., ;4.A

9owry pressure Non=payment of micro=credit installment

Rahman% PPR* Po+erty research%

;4.1 ;;.3

Source: Mon'a 4orecast ,--.: 4ield assessment and 5ction Plan% Re&ort &re&ared by Hossain Zillur

Price hi)e in essentials% a ne* vulnerability in "++,% 6n 4,,1 an additional dimension of vulnerability lies in the rise in prices of essentials which erode savings and limit recourse to market purchase when necessary. A price profile of essentials prevailing in the first week of September 4,,1 is described in table 1.

Table 1 :rice profile of essentials

6tem 8ine rice Ankor dal :otato Salt pack 8arm chicken "ed chili Hgg :rice?kg ;+ 43 ,E ;; +1 B0 ;0 per hali 6tem :lain rice hesari Soya bin oil -eef Medium fish @nion erosene :rice?kg ;1 44 1, ;,, E1 4; 34 6tem Atta Mosur dal Salt open *hicken Small fish Milk :rice?kg ;+ 0+ ,A ;4, B, ;+

Source: Mon'a 4orecast ,--.: 4ield assessment and 5ction Plan% Re&ort &re&ared by Hossain Zillur Rahman,% PPR* Po+erty research%

&rosion of river% More than + rivers manifest greater "angpur. The main river in this region is -rahmaputra( Tista( and 9harla. Thousands of people live on the bank of the river. Hvery year river erosion is a common phenomena as a result( these people losses their houses( livestock and fall into the e5treme poverty level. -ising price of agricultural products and machineries% Agricultural facilitating products such as insecticide( fertili.er( diesel etc. price is skyrocketing. As a result( farmers earn a very poor amount from their harvest. The oil price is showing bellow that highly affects the production cost of farmers.

Lac) of farm activities% :ointing out lack of farm activities as the main cause of the Monga( day laborers and landless people suffered most from the blow. $gro!based economy% Monga affected district have larger proportion of agricultural labor households and tenant farmers. According to -angladesh *ensus of Agriculture ;AAB( B,=B1 percent of the rural households in these five district (>aibandha( urigram( $almonirhat( Nilphamari and "angpur! are agricultural labor households or tenant households. 6t may be noted that only 3; percent of the total households in *omilla are agricultural labor households and tenant farmers. Lac) of industries% $ack of industries in these districts also limits scope for employment. H5pect Tobacco and -iri industries in "angpur and some cold storages in other districts( there is no employment opportunity in the manufacturing sector. Lac) of infrastructure% Monga affected localities have lack of infrastructure and transportation facilities. #orse affected localities are also the victims of riverbank erosion. -epayment of loan at higher rate% 9ue to the borrowing from local moneylenders (Maha<on! money at high interest rates (;0, to ;E, percent! a large part of harvest goes to repayment of loan. As a result the poor farmers can7t save money to face the forthcoming monga and ultimately they are affected in the ne5t period. Scarcity of -elief%

"elief activities of the government covered only a tiny part of the population in these areas. @n the other hand as government does not acknowledge the prevalence of monga( N>@s did not dared to initiate any program to cope against monga. Lac) of Government.s long!run initiatives% Monga is nothing new in the region. The same situation is prevailing for long but no government came forward with any step to set up industries in the region or creating other <ob avenues for people. The governmentJs development efforts are seen only on the official media( not on the spot. Poor crops mar)eting% :oor crop marketing mechanism was blamed for the farmersJ getting low prices for their crops. There is a big gap between the prices of vegetables growers get in north=bangle and the prices consumers have to pay in 9haka. As the farmers don7t get sufficient price for their product( they can7t save enough money to face the lean period. /rresponsibility of bloc) supervisors% Many of the 4B(,,, block supervisors in the monga=stricken even do not go to work regularly. They have failed to properly accomplish their task of technology transfer to farmers that reduces the Guantity and Guality of the harvest. /llegal grabbing of prime croplands% 2nscrupulous and powerful people in society grab prime cropland that7s why the assets (most of the crops! are accumulated within some rich persons and landless person suffers in the lean period. $dministrative 0ea)ness% Starvation deaths and ongoing malnutrition as reported from the Monga affected areas of the country appear to be the conseGuence of bad governance resulting from acts of omission and commission on the part of public servants including 9eputy *ommissioners of the areas concerned and also it is nothing but the failure to take timely and effective decisions for release and disbursement of e5isting funds and relief for the purpose of addressing the 'Monga) situation. 1lood2 Draught2 and other natural calamity% 8ood crisis during two months from mid=September to mid=November (Aswin and artik in -angle! is an every year phenomenon for the farm laborers along the Teesta(

-ramhaputra and 9harla rivers in the districts but the year 4,,3 it became acute as the prices of all essentials including rice and vegetables went a great deal higher. 8loods damage a ma<or part of Aman rice and "abi crops A large number of mud houses were damaged and transplanted Aman rice submerged in the flood that made thousands of the farm laborers unemployed and( thus( victims of food scarcity.

Factors aggravate the situation:

Corruption and 3epotism% *orruption and nepotism in the distribution of I>8 (vulnerable feeding! cards make the situation miserable. *orruption leads to violence and even death involving the same. A clerk of a 2: (union parishad! was reportedly brutally murdered by an angry villager and a 2: member was sub<ected to public lynching in >aibandha. Also rice meant for distribution among the vulnerable people has been looted in published on K9aily Star7. Monga and *inter% "angpur along with other districts of the northern region has a few special problems. The problems recur every year at a particular time. -oth manga and the chilly winter come almost hand in hand those cause sufferings at intolerable e5tent to the vulnerable segments of the population. S)yroc)eting Price% Severe <oblessness and food crunch twinned with skyrocketing prices of essentials during the monga (famine! period have threatened the lives of about seven million people in eight northern districts. -eali4ation of loan% 6n some areas N>@s reali.ed loan installments ignoring the hardships of the people in the period of monga. Misuse 5 Politici4ation of -elief% $ocal leaders and workers of the ruling party misuse a huge Guantity of government aid sent for the Monga=affected people. 8ood grains from the government safety net programme( including I>8 (Iulnerable >roup 8eeding! and I>9 (Iulnerable >roup 9evelopment!( also do not reach the targeted group due to corruption of local government and politici.ation. urigram. This news was

Lac) of *illingness of Local La*ma)ers% 6t is unfortunate that the local lawmakers are absent when people are reeling under ab<ect poverty. They has been failed to establish the monga crisis as a national issue with the long courses of monga. @nly at the period of monga lawmakers provide poor amount of relief but when the period gone( none of the local lawmaker raise their voice in the parliament against monga. They don7t take any long=run steps to eradicate monga. Loan from Money Lender% Monga=stricken people take loan from the local moha<on at a very high interest rate. Such as they take a loan of tk. 3,, with an agreement that they will pay Tk. 0,, after one month. So( the interest rate is about 0,,C( where as the interest rate of local N>@s is only 44C=41C. -ut the monga=stricken people take the loan from the moneylender because they think them dearer than the N>@s.

8acing the severity of monga year to year( the affected people have naturally grabbed some protective measures in defending the situation. 6n the following table B we present the public response in the affected areas in year 4,,1. Table B *oping with Monga *oping Strategy >overnment assistance Maha<ony *redit (high interest rate! 2se up savings Migration of earning male members Sale of assets N>@ assistance $ocal Support C of respondents reporting B1.4 03 0,.4 30 4+.3 ;E.0 ;4.1

-y eating inferior food Advance sale of crop ($ow price! Advance sale of labor (low price! Samity loan N>@ $oan
Rahman% PPR* Po+erty research%

B.B 1.; 0.+ 3.; 4.+

Source: Mon'a 4orecast ,--.: 4ield assessment and 5ction Plan% Re&ort &re&ared by Hossain Zillur

9riven by a severe <oblessness and want of food coupled with skyrocketing prices of essentials( the e5treme poor have started rushing into cities including the capital from the northern region affected by an early monga (near famine situation!. The newcomers donJt have time to en<oy the mega cityJs charms( as they have to wait for hours on the streets to find a <ob to earn their daily bread. They are ready to be hired even at a wage half than usual to cope with the tough situation. Government activities% >overnment disbursed I>8 cards I>9 card( for work! program( introduced open marker sale. "a<shahi abikha (8ood

abita (Money for work! program etc. among the poor and rishi 2nnatan -ank has lunched collateral free

loan under the KLero :overty $oan Scheme7 with BC interest rate for day laborer and landless people. /owever disbursement of relief was better this year due to the inclusion of Army in management of disbursement. $ctivities of non!government organi4ation% Several N>@s provide relief( loan( vocational training and other facilities to eradicate monga. 6emporary migration% Temporary migration of laborers during the pre=harvest lean period. $aborers go to the districts like 9haka( chittagong and Sylhet for seasonal employment opportunity. Problems $ssociated *ith 6emporary Migration%

No Knowledge on the ways of the cities: The poor farmer from :anchagar has taken to pulling rickshaw like he did last year when he came to 9haka for two months( but he freGuently loses his way around the unfamiliar terrain of the big city whose numerous lanes and by=lanes still baffle him. No Knowledge on Fare and Wage: An apologetic /a.rat Ali reGuests his passengers to show him the way and does not bargain with them over the right fare( which in most cases he doesnJt know. M6nsaf koira <a hoi dien (>ive whatever is fair!(M he tells them. No guarantee of residence: Some of the temporary migrants get their residence in different shanty% others havenJt been lucky enough to find a place to stay and are sleeping under the sky at places like amlapur "ail Station. No guarantee of Work: Scores of others from the eight monga=affected districts == :anchagarh( Thakurgaon( 9ina<pur( $almonirhat( >aibandha( urigram( Nilphamari and "angpur == have traveled to the capital or other district towns in search of <obs( but many didnJt find any and have taken to begging instead. Other Problem: M#ith improved transportation( more and more people travel to 9haka every monga period. Some pull rickshaws or work as day laborers while others take to begging. A portion of these annual migrants stay and the rest go back. Meanwhile( the e5odus of the hungry people into the city continues unabated. 1or*ard sell of labor% 8orward sale of their labor at reduced wages= Tk 4, to Tk 41 per day with food or Tk 31 to Tk 0, per day without food. This may be compared with the potential wage rate of Tk 31 to Tk 0, with food and Tk 11 to Tk B, without food during the crop harvest and planting season. Selling crops in advance% 6n some areas farmers sold their harvests in advance at lower price about ;+1 to 4,, per mound. Selling livestoc)% Many families sell their livestock at lower price to cope with Monga situation. &ating inferior foods% Hating of banana thors and kachu-ghechu that is not naturally eaten by poor people during the normal period. arwan -a.ar and

Loan from Money Lender% #hen there is no other alternative way then( the penniless people obtain loan from moneylenders. An amount of Tk. ;,, obtained in Aswin= artik has to be paid with more than 1,C interest after 4=3 months.

There are several stakeholders that are working to eradicate monga and to facilitate the monga stricken people during the lean period. The stakeholders are illustrated bellow& Government% Legal -esponsibilities and the performance of the government% M@N>AJ is a known feature to all. 9uring the -angla month of ' artik) i.e. mid @ctober to mid November( marginal and landless farmers face an economic crisis. This crisis stems from lack of non=agricultural employment opportunities since it is the agricultural incline season. This yearly incident is called 'Monga)( a near famine situation that results in severe food crisis for the people of the northern part of -angladesh. This year 'Monga) did not remain limited to the greater "angpur only( but has spreaded across 8aridpur( >opalgan< and Famalpur districts and severely affected about 3,?0, lac people. At least 00 people died due to starvation and diarrhoea that followed( among other causes (as reported in the 9aily 6ttefaG dated ,;.;;.4,,1!. -ut the government has some constitutional obligations to ensure food and other basic necessities to every citi.en of -angladesh especially the vulnerable such as the 'Monga) affected people. $et us highlight some legal obligations of the government to mitigate the situation like 'Monga). 7# Constitutional mandate% 2nder Articles ;1( ;B( ;E(;!( ;A (;! N (4!( 4, (;! of the *onstitution of the :eopleJs "epublic of -angladesh( government is under obligation to provide the basic necessities( rural development and agricultural enhancement( raising the level of nutrition and the improvement of the public health( eGuality of opportunity and eGual distribution of wealth to all citi.ens and ensure employment as duty to all citi.ens of the country. The State shall also secure the fundamental rights of its citi.ens under article 4+( 3; and 34 of the *onstitution. "# 1ood policy underta)en by the government% 2nder the 8ood :olicy of ;AEE the >overnment of -angladesh has promised to ensure distribution of food across the country throughout the year. Accordingly( the government through its policies is endeavoring uniform distribution of food grains. @ne of the main ob<ectives of the said food policy is that to ensure supply of food grain to vulnerable helpless people of low income group and storage of food for facing emergencies and controlling the its price. To materiali.e these ob<ectives the government is obligated to adopt necessary policies like the food ministry should store food according to the population and demand of the people( distribute necessary food every year through different distribution centers( and

distribute food in the villages by reducing food allotment in the cities. The government should make properly active the MS process for allocation of food and give more emphasis to the most vulnerable people at the time of distribution. 8# Programs of government% >overnment of -angladesh has undertaken Iulnerable >roup 9evelopment (I>9! :rogramme( (September 4,,4! with the assistance of #orld 8ood :rogramme (#8:! that is aimed at ensuring poverty reduction that e5clusively targets ultra=poor rural women in -angladesh. 6t identifies ultra= poor women trapped in the vicious cycle of hunger( poverty and vulnerability and provides a vital food ration that enable women to participate in activities that would otherwise be beyond their reach. 6t also enables the poorest and most disadvantaged women and their family members in rural -angladesh to overcome food insecurity and low social and economic status in a sustainable way and to improve the nutritional status of malnourished women and children. >overnment has the Test "elief programme where it allocates food grain for maintenance of rural infrastructure during monsoon. The government has also 8ood for #ork (88#! and "ural Maintenance :rograms ("M:!. The government also has different pro<ects and other programs like( or money to people for work. 6t appears through different newspapers that the government has already allocated Taka 141 crore and ;,(34(,,, tons of food under different pro<ects and programmes in the current financial budget( including Taka 3,, crores for the -inimoye A-6 /A ( a<er haddo i.e. 8ood for #ork! programme( Taka ;,, crore to deal with natural abita ( a<er

binomoye taka i.e. money for work! etc. where it takes the responsibility to ensure food

disasters( Taka +1 crores to lessen the risk of natural disaster and Taka 1, crores for temporary alleviation of unemployment (as reported in a section of print media on 3,.;,.4,,1!. The government has also reportedly allocated 1,; metric tons of food for distribution under the relief and social safety net measures( 41, metric tons of food for special pro<ects at the rate of 1, metric tons per constituency and A01 metric tons of rice for general J A-6 /AJ pro<ect etc. /owever( it appears that adeGuate and effective measures had not been taken for distribution of food grains and relief goods among the most vulnerable individuals in the 'Monga)=affected areas.

6t also appeared from the news published in newspapers that the allotments for facing the 'Monga) situation was inadeGuate( there was lack of co=ordination among the Ministries concerned in distributing funds and above all they made delay to distribute the funds. The 2nion :arishad and the 2p.illa :arishad have the responsibility to get going those different programs and pro<ects of the government. -ut they are unsuccessful to do that. 9# /nternational mandate% Article ;; of the 6nternational *ovenant on Hconomic( Social and *ultural "ights (H*@S@*! to which -angladesh is a signatory e5pressly recogni.e the right of every person to an adeGuate standard of living including adeGuate food. The right to food is impliedly guaranteed under the Millennium 9evelopment >oals (M9>s! where it is undertaken to reduce poverty by one half the proportion of the worlds poor and of people who suffer from hunger by the year 4,;1. ,# 'ther la*s% The 8amine 6nsurance 8und Act ;A3+ provides for the establishment and maintenance of a fund called the '8amine 6nsurance 8und) for e5penditure pertaining to insurance against famine and distress caused by serious draught( flood( earthGuake and other natural calamities through its different provisions. 2nder provisions of sections 3,(4!(*! and 33 of the $ocal >overnment (2nion :arishad! @rdinance( ;AE3 the 2nion :arishads are entrusted with the responsibilities to undertake some civic functions like adoption and implementation of development schemes in the field of agriculture( forest( fisheries( education( health( cottage industries( communication( irrigation and flood protection with a view to increasing economic and social emancipation of the people and also being responsible for agricultural( industrial and community development in the 2nion as well as empowered to make rules and regulations for the purpose of this @rdinance. 6t is a fundamental right of every citi.en to be free from hunger. :overty and starvation constitute a gross denial and violation of the basic right to food. The right to food also implies the right to food at appropriate nutritional level. 6t also implies that the Guantum of relief to those in distress must meet those levels in order to ensure that the right to food is actually secured and does not remain a theoretical concept. The state has the obligations to take reGuisite positive action to identify vulnerable groups and to design( implement and monitor policies that will facilitate their access to food=producing resources or an income.

As a last alternative( direct assistance may have to be provided( to ensure at least minimum freedom from hunger. -$KU: -a;shahi Krishi Unnayan :an)#% "A 2- has contributed and played vital role in the development process of North -engal particularly in greater "angpur. 6t has disbursed an amount of near E;B crore as loan. 6n the last year the bank has disbursed about 4+A crore as loan where as the target loan was 4BA crore taka. 6n the current year the bank has targeted to disburse 3,3 crore tk of which 01 crore taka has been already disbursed to the monga victims. Moreover the bank has initiated a new skim which they call ':overty less Special $oan Skim). The specialty of this skim is that it incurs only BC interest and also there is an addition in previous 3 components called 'labor loan). $abor loan is for the seasonal unemployed labors in Monga affected areas. Total allocation for the component was 1 crore in the last year of which 0 crore was successfully disbursed and in this year about ;.1crore has been already disbursed among ;;(;03 people. The bank has also moved to disburse loan for mai.e. This loan reGuired EC interest rate in the past but has been moved down to 4C in this year for the betterment of the victims in Monga. Grameen :an)% >rameen bank is in the monga=affected area for a Guarter century and it has the ma5imum e5perience in relation to the victim people. 6t has three .ones "angpur( 9ina<pur and Nilphamary and there are A lac and 41 thousands members working down there. 2nder the scope of >rameen Sheba( there are fifty=three lac members increasing one lac yearly. >rameen bank is trying beside there regular activities to solve monga problem in the four=test basis village. #hen they will be successful in resolving monga in these places( they will turn towards other affected areas with the previous e5periences. 6n the test of resolving monga they are trying to create employments. The innovative employments include biogas plants( consumer product and diversified agriculture. Another thing is labor transformation across the country for well distribution of labor. >rameen foundation motivates the farmers to produce banana that is profitable as well as protection against unemployment during monga period. >rameen bank is also helps the monga affected peoples by directly monetary support. 6t includes suspension of installment payment for two to five weeks during the monga period. At this time the creditor pays nothing to the bank as he has no employment. After the situation when he is employed he pays back the money which is a direct help to the victims.

:-$C% -"A* has surveyed physically in the monga affected areas for the critical analysis of reasons and conseGuences. The specialists have emphasi.ed on the flood( labor concentration and diversified agriculture. -"A* has found that flood affects in these areas more brutally as depth of the Tista and 9harala rivers are very low. Also in the time of flood thousand tons of sand over lap the cultivation able land and lowers the fertility of the land. -"A* has found that the monga=affected areas are not suitable for paddy and recommended for other crops like 2ttaran paddy( -"=4, paddy( peanut( ginger( turmeric etc. -"A* has identified ;E,, monga affected families and provided an amount of loan of ;,,, for each family among which ;;,, families have received the loan without interest. The bank has also provided 41,, *harka (spinning eGuipment! to women in the affected areas and also there is a plan for providing ;1,,, women with *harka in the future. The bank will provide 1,,, people with cows in the ne5t year. There are pro<ects for small industry like sandal( candy etc for the monga=affected areas in the near future. -angpur Dina;pur -ural Service -D-S#% "9"S has initiated a program of tk A;,,,,, in the sector of vocational training in accordance with the choice f the trainee. The trainees are receiving allowances for the training for daily basis and also they will receive Tk 41,, after the training as loan. There is another pro<ect named integrative food security program that will be directed by #8: and $>H9. This program will provide EE,,, employments opportunities. This program has three directives ;. Awareness raising training. (B months! 4. Silk development training. 3. Hmployment training. 6n this year "9"S has providing ;E,,, families with rehabilitation and in the previous year the number of families were 4,1,,. #ith the help of : S8( "9"S has disbursed + crore loan to 4,,, families at the rate of AC interest. 'ther participating 3G'% ASA :roshika *are -angladesh $td.

*entre for :olicy 9ialogue *hhinna Mukul -angladesh Sonirvar -angladesh Shokti 8oundation Ashroi

Local $gencies& *o=operative Societies Thanggamara Mohila 2nnayan Samiti Media

/nternational $gencies% Asian 9evelopment -ank (A9-! #orld 9evelopment -ank (#9-! 2SA Harly Multinational *ompanies 9onor *ountries 6slamic 9evelopment -ank (69-! 2S Aid 2N Aid

Monga is the traditional problem of seasonal poverty in Aswin= artik in ecologically vulnerable parts of undiversified( agriculture=dependent northern districts( has in recent times attracted much political and media attention there are tow aspects to the problem which merit a distinction& the long term problem of seasonal poverty( and year to year variation in the severity of monga;. #e can classified the eradication process of monga in basic tow view point& Steps during the period of monga year to year variation in severity# Mass 1eeding Program% Hvery lean period the monga=stricken people brought out rallies demanding food and work. Their other demands were the introduction of mass feeding program through opening gruel kitchen. 6f the government( N>@s and other stakeholders initiates mass feeding program from the initiation of monga then the monga lean period will be easily tackled. Political Support% Hvery lean period government has a motive to ignore the monga problem and the opposition parties only critici.e the ruling party that they are failure to tackle monga. -ut none of them take any effective program that helps the helpless persons. -ut they take actions when the situation is too much alarming. And their action is too insufficient with respect to the vast need. To facilitates the victims alliance of all political parties is hardly needed( simply because there will be more mouths than a single party can feed. $ctivities of 3G's% 6f other parties( N>@Js and charity organi.ations also came forward to feed the hungry( the task would not prove so challenging. Providing ade<uate relief% AdeGuate relief material( including ready meals( would have to be given to the hapless people of the area. Long!term steps to eliminate monga Crops Diversification"% 2rgent steps for crop diversification in the monga= hit northern region to absorb farm laborers rendered <obless during the lean period (mid=September to mid=November! every year.

1 )

Mon'a forecast ,--.: field assessment and action &lan by Hossain 6illur rahman, PPR*% 7he &arliamentary standin' committee on the a'riculture ministry made the recommendations at a meetin' at the San'sad )haban, chaired by committee chairman and rulin' )(P la2maker 5bdul Mannan$

6t also recommended evolving shorter=duration rice varieties for aman season( which can be harvested much earlier than mid=November( to create <obs for farm labourers to avert monga. Government $ctivities% Programs% *oncentrating on the following pro<ects& abikha (8ood for #ork! programme abita (Money for #ork! programme Iulnerable >roup 8eeding (I>8! programme Iulnerable >roup 9evelopment (I>9! programme

As a source for food availability during the Monga month are now available in the monga=hits regions. -ut these program are not sufficient as to reGuirement. So( the government should enlarge their helping hand toward this region. Distribution of Khas land% 6ncome ineGuality and entitlement to land (landownership and tenancy! are ma<or determinants of poverty. >iven the same level of income( the higher the ineGuality in the distribution of income the higher the incidence of poverty and the higher the degree of landlessness the higher the incidence of poverty in the upa.ilas. /owever we did not find any clear geographical pattern in the ineGuality in the distribution of income (Map=3!. The 4,,; *ensus estimated that nearly 04C of the households do not own any cultivated land. The upa.ilas with highest concentration of landlessness are in the greater Sylhet( *hittagong and in the hulna regions. The incidence of tenancy varies greatly across the region. Access to land through the tenancy market helps reduce poverty. The top Guartile of the upa.ilas with regard to the incidence of tenancy is concentrated in the coastal region of -arisal( Noakhali and *hittagong( and also in the Nawabgan< and Naogaon districts in the "a<shahi region. The above findings suggest that redistribution of land through land tenancy reforms would contribute to poverty reduction that leads to eradicate monga. #hile such reforms arc highly desirable( their feasibility is Guestionable given the already high population density in most areas of -angladesh. Iery little land would be available for redistribution( if the ceiling on landownership has to be kept at a viable level. /owever( the government can take up a program for redistributing has land for homestead to those who do not own even homestead land. Measures can also be adopted to control

absentee landownership and rents under fi5ed=rent tenancy that has been growing in importance.
Map 3: Income inequality

Source: Ma&&in' &o+erty for Rural )an'ladesh, *PD0!RR! Policy )rief 1%

Loan Management of 3G's% The N>@s are simply disbursing loans to the poor and reali.ing those with interest. This is not actually benefiting the poor. The N>@s should train the poor in different vocations so that they can stand on their foot. Declaring as Distressed -egion% >reater "angpur( greater 9ina<pur should to be declared as 'Monga 9istressed region). 8or this purpose mapping of distressed area is highly emphasi.ed. Mapping where the poor are concentrated would help measure the geographical ineGuality in well=being of the people. The more detailed the spatial scale for identifying pockets of poverty( the more precise would be the targeting of areas for programs for poverty reduction. @n the other hand( if distressed is determined then( it is easier for N>@s and local and foreign donors to help the monga=stricken people. =early $llocation% #e all are aware of the duration of the visitation by the two phenomena (monga and winter!. #hy not think of a yearly allocation for tackling these two most troubling problemsO 6n countries where falling snow brings vehicles to a standstill( the administration knows their <ob well enough. Similarly( the manga and winterJs share of misery can be minimi.ed by yearly allocation for facing this problem.

6a)ing &ffective Plans in $dvance% -efore people start falling victims to the natureJs wrath if their needs are taken well care of( disease and debilitation can be avoided. This is important because people must be in considerable good health so that they can work when the bad patch has passed and the time for working their paddy and crop fields arrives. #orkers must not get weakened physically. The country is sure to suffer( if they do. The working hands must be kept strong and busy. 0aiving interest and providing fresh loan & #aiving of interests on past loans and providing fresh agriculture loans to the Monga victims can also play an important role to eradicate monga. -ising production through technological change% Noting that croplands are shrinking fast and population is growing( the government should actively consider going for frontier technologies like genetic modification of crops and for transgenic crops for increasing production as per population growth. Creating employment opportunity& The government should come forward with some pragmatic steps to create <obs for the people. The meeting was informed that the agriculture ministry would take up specific pro<ects to create employment opportunities for the poverty=stricken people in northern districts during the lean period to save them from monga. The employment opportunities can be created as per establishing Agro= based industries. Developing a better mar)eting mechanism% 9eveloping a better crop marketing mechanism across the country can ensure better crops price for the farmer. 6f we can ensure it we can easily ensure some savings in the victim people7s hand in the harvest period and can spend it at lean period. Subsidy for agricultural products and e<uipments% *ut in the interest rate on farm credit as well as if the government subsidi.e the in the price of diesel( fertili.er( electricity uses in agriculture( and other agricultural eGuipment( monga can be weaken. -ole of Media% Nobel laureate economist Amarta Sen said( if independence of media survive in a country( there is no chance of famine in that region. A strong coverage in the media on any vulnerable issue can raise response across the international boundary. The problem of monga in recent years has got greater media attention and conseGuently a higher response has been attained to eradicate monga in year 4,,1.

&ducation and human capital formation% *lose association of high incidence of poverty with low educational attainment of the working age population was observed. This relationship is the strongest among all e5planatory variables. The results suggest that improving human capital through providing education and training remain the most fundamental intervention to benefit the poorest of the rural poor in the medium and long term. Map 4: Educational attainment of worker

Map 0 shows the spatial distribution of educational attainment of the workers across upa.ilas The average years of schooling of the workers at the upa.ila level vary from ,.; year to B.1 years. The upa.ilas with low levels of education are concentrated in the greater Sylhet( Mymensingh and the "angpur regions( while those with relatively higher levels of education are concentrated in the greater -arisal( Noakhali and *omilla regions. The government of -angladesh has committed to achieving universal primary education and removing gender disparity in education by 4,;1 as targets for achieving the Millennium 9evelopment >oals. There is a long way to go to reach the Millennium 9evelopment >oal of achieving universal primary education. The 4,,; :opulation *ensus data show that nearly 3,C of the children never attend school and the school participation rate is significantly higher in upa.ilas with lower incidence of poverty. The government needs to provide special incentives to poor households to induce them to send the children to schools( and to keep them till the secondary level to improve the human capital content.

That the incentives work is shown by the higher participation of girls in the secondary school age group than boys( which is a positive impact of the >overnments policy of providing stipends to girls in the secondary schools. Development of infrastructure% The positive impact of infrastructure on reduction of poverty is indicated by the highly statistically significant association of poverty with the coverage of irrigation( access to electricity and the accessibility of the villages to other infrastructure (upa.ila headGuarter( educational institutions( health facilities etc!. The government has a ma<or role to play in providing these infrastructure facilities. The e5tents of coverage of these infrastructures are still at a low level in -angladesh. @nly 43C of the rural households now have electricity connection. @bviously there is a long way to go to for the government to provide people universal access to this vital infrastructure that encourages private sector investment in agriculture and various non= farm activities( and contributes to changes the attitude of the people towards moderni.ation. The areas with very low coverage of electricity are Nilphamari( urigram districts( the greater Mymensingh and Sylhet region( the *hittagong /ill Tracts region( and hulna region and the coastal islands.

Map !: Electrification

Map ": Irrigation facilities

Source: 3eo'ra&hical *oncentration of Rural Po+erty in )an'ladesh, occasional Pa&er 89, *PD

-angladesh has also made good progress in e5tending irrigation facilities since the early lAE,s through private sector investment in shallow tube wells and power pumps. The area covered by tube wells and power pumps reached 0.; million ha in 4,,4( which is about 14C of the cultivated land. The coverage of modern irrigation facilities has e5panded mostly to *entral and the Northwestern and Southwestern parts of the country. The coverage is still low in coastal areas( in the depressed basins in the Sylhet and 8aridpur belt( and in the *hittagong /ill Tracts region. 8or further e5pansion of irrigation surface water development pro<ects that helps retain water accumulated during the monsoon season for use during the dry season will be reGuired. Development of agricultural technology% Agricultural interventions are still important( not only for increasing productivity of rice as the dominant crop( but also for diversifying production systems appropriate to the natural ecology of the area. The abundance of water and deep flooding provides opportunities for developing technologies for agriculture=aGuaculture systems appropriate for poor rural communities( with accompanying policy( infrastructural and micro=credit support. 9evelopment of cold= tolerant shorter maturity boro rice varieties can help reduce risk from early flash=floods( and the vulnerability to livelihoods caused by this natural factor. The significance of drought in e5plaining poverty over geographical space seems to be masked by massive e5pansion of shallow tube wells that can be used for supplementary irrigation. This( however( does not diminish the importance of developing drought=coping strategies for improving agricultural productivity in the low=rainfall regions. The high land areas are conducive for high=values upland crops. H5pansion of irrigation can contribute to crop diversification and improved livelihoods of fanners in regions with large proportion of highlands.

6nitiative :rograms; 6mplemented&

Program *ultivating Sagar ola Description 6n -angladesh banana is a highly preferd food item. 6t grows almost all the season. Now a day animal husbandry is a growing phenomenon( and vutta is highly reGuired for animal food. @n the other hand( it is also vutta is also used in other food assistance. *ochu is a "abi crops( but a special type of cochu is cultivated in the monga affected area. 6f the marketing machanism can be developed( then it can also contribute to eradicate monga. -oth of these two crops are valuable agricultural product. These two products is harvested in mora artik. $rea $ssociate 6n 9arbasta a village of >obindagon< upa.ilas under >aibandha district cultivate it that harvest at mora artik. 6n $almonirhat district basilly in aligon<( /otibandha( and :atgram huge amount of vutta is cultivated. &>tent of Success Moderate success.

*ultivating Iutta

/ighly Succeed.

*ultivating *ochu

6n Amingon<( in ali<ong upa.ilas( under $almonirhat district( a measureable amount of cochu is cultivated that harvests in the month of artik. 6n the greater northern region these are cultivated. -ut in 4,,1 under the supervision of -"A* in 2lipur of urigram( 4, acres of land was cultivated for turmeric and ginger. 6n $almonirhat( urigram( :anchagar( 9ina<pur these two type of developed paddy is cultivated.

Moderate Success.

*ultivating turmeric and ginger

/ighly Succeed.

*ultivating 2ttaran N -"=4,

These are two types of developed rice can be cultivated at any period of time. So( if we cultivate it based on the assumption( that it will harvests in Aswin or artik.

/ighly Succeed.

These Programs are gathered from Daily Prothom *lo Published on 11 December" )++,$

#ecommendations
-ased on our report( we recommend the following. -esides agricultural employment opportunities non=agricultural <ob opportunity should be enhanced. The allocation under various safety=net programs should be increased in upa.ilas with higher intensity of poverty. >overnment may take up a program for redistributing ownership and terms of tenancy should be considered. Transit points along the northern borders should be more organi.ed to induce employment. As low enrolment and high dropout rules are also linked with chronic poverty as well as Monga( the government should provide special incentives to poor households to encourage them to send their children to school and retain them to at least up to secondary level. The upa.ilas with low levels of accessibility should get priority in future transport infrastructure development pro<ects. :ublic investment for rural electrification should be accelerated Surface water development pro<ects will be reGuired for e5pansion of irrigation in Monga stricken areas. Technologies for agriculture=aGuaculture systems appropriate for poor rural communities should be developed. The dissemination of these technologies should be supported by appropriate policies for storage( transportation( marketing and credit support. Small and cottage industry should be initiated in those affected region to resolve poverty. "esearch for improved technologies for escaping flash= floods and thoughts should be supported for the very low= lying and upland areas. has land for homestead to those who do not own homestead land. "egulation of absentee land