TY - JOUR AU - Joint Secretary Md. Ataur Rahman, ndc, PY - 2008/06/30 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - EVALUATING THE RURAL MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME AS A POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY JF - NDC E-JOURNAL JA - NDC E-JOURNAL VL - 7 IS - 1 SE - DO - UR - https://ndcjournal.ndc.gov.bd/ndcj/index.php/ndcj/article/view/60 SP - 203-220 AB - <p>Bangladesh is one of the most poverty stricken countries in the world. A recent survey reveals<br>that 40 percent of its population live below the poverty line. The Government of Bangladesh’s<br>efforts at poverty reduction has not been very successful. There have been fluctuations in the poverty<br>situation of the country, but the percentage of rural poor has remained high.<br>For last few years, the government has been pursuing Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS). One<br>of the avenues for poverty reduction is the Social Safety Nets Programmes that transfer income to<br>target groups. Rural Maintenance Programme (RMP) is one such programme, targeting destitute<br>rural women. RMP not only transfers income, it also provides training and savings to target groups<br>with the expectation of their graduation from the poverty’. This paper attempts to show how far the<br>aims of the programme have been achieved and find out if target groups have really been able to lift<br>themselves from poverty. At the same time, we have tried to examine if PRS has any contextual<br>limitations in changing poverty and if those prevent it from fulfilling its goals.<br>The quantitative as well as qualitative aspects of poverty are examined. Results show<br>that since poverty is multi-dimensional, poverty reduction strategy requires multi-directional<br>efforts. Addressing only the income-poverty is not enough for poverty alleviation since qualitative<br>characteristics of poverty also require to be addressed to ensure sustainability of efforts.</p> ER -