Bangladesh Dark Facets of Land Rights and Management with Directions to
Agrarian Reform/Prosanta K. Roy. Dhaka, AH Development Publishing House,
2008, xxiv, 356 p., tables, figs., ISBN 984-70019-0098-7.
Bangladesh Dark Facets of Land Rights and Management with Directions to
Agrarian Reform/Prosanta K. Roy. Dhaka, AH Development Publishing House,
2008, xxiv, 356 p., tables, figs., ISBN 984-70019-0098-7.
Contents: Foreword. Preface. Acronyms. Glossary. 1. Land rights and management in brief. 2. Land rights and human rights. 3. Sequences of land rights: past and present. 4. Land management: past and present. 5. Dark facets of preceding land reforms and management. 6. Handicapped land administration and management. 7. Impact of inconsistent land reforms and administration. 8. Access to land: shady features and prospects. 9. Agrarian reform toward sustainable livelihood and development. 10. Notes of the author: things to rethink. Annexures. Reference. Index.
"This book has been written depending on the outcomes of studies on corruption and irregularities in land administration leading huge sufferings to the people. Zaminderi has been abolished through State Acquisition and Tenancy Act but their descendants are still proactive in land management. The annual loss of state revenue due to corruption in sixty four Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) offices is TK 1139 million.
Management of land is devoid of safeguarding the soil fertility. Seventy five percent arable lands are affected by different types of degradation. The fragile ecosystems of the hills and the coast are susceptible to severe damage. Four types of degradation lead nutrient and production loss of TK 113693 million annually. Yield of crops per acre reaches at the stage of stagnation and present growth is the result of high intensity that is also at the point of exhaustion.
Impact of inconsistent land tenure and impoverished fertility of land on the society is very alarming. More than 60 percent people are landless and 90 percent of them are poor. Their descendants are usually inherited poverty like no land, no asset, no education, ill health that leads intergenerational chronic poverty. Inaccessibility to resources creates un-utilization of human potentiality leading lack of means and meager income that forces to be lacking in purchasing and finally starving.
Non-farm entrepreneurs may help but access to the available resources like land and water would be taken with high priority to provide the huge population with livelihood. That needs an effective Agrarian Reform as the book delineates in detail in chapter 9. Finally, an approach for user-based rights and sustainable development has been furnished in the author's note at the end of the book." (jacket)