4. The Comilla model and the integrated rural development programme of Bangladesh. An experiment in 'co-operative capitalism'
Khan, A.R.
Agrarian systems and rural development: 113-158
1979
Document Number: 442292
The paper examines the contribution of the co-operative system in solving the problems of underdevelopment and poverty in rural Bangladesh. Since the system has been tried most intensively and over a long period in the Comilla Kotwali Thana, the primary emphasis is on an evaluation of the performance of that programme. An examination is made of: (a) the background; (b) increased production; (c) the distribution of income; (d) capital accumulation and credit; (e) the success and failure of the Comilla experiment. This is followed by an account of the expansion of the Comilla-type of co-operative in the rest of Bangladesh under the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), which was initiated before independence and gradually expanded later. The main Comilla features adopted in the IRDP framework are the two-tier structure and the integration of multiple services, e.g. credit, irrigation, training and inputs for HYV. However, despite additional features the programmes are distinctly inferior to the Comilla experiment and have an overwhelming official bureaucratic structure. It is concluded that the consequence of intensifying the implementation of the IRDP programme in a situation of intolerable inequality of land ownership will be to perpetuate, and probably to aggravate, such inequality. In the official discussions of rural development programmes and policies there is little awareness of the gravity of the situation. It seems that the decision has been made to move towards greater inequality in the belief that, given the existing structure of the distribution of power in the rural areas, nothing else is feasible and in the hope that this strategy will provide some, possibly high, growth.