Letters to the editor

Make powdered milk affordable to mass people

Sir,
A media report recently said that some 50 per cent children in Bangladesh did not get milk as a premium source of nutrition due to low production and supply-side shortage of the dairy product. In early nineties the government imposed high customs duty and high supplementary duty on import of powdered milk on the plea that it would encourage people to produce more milk and the country would become self-sufficient in milk production.
The subsequent governments have been following the same policy during the last 24 years. Milk production has not increased significantly to make it available to common people. Rather milk has become rich men's food owing to short supply and high price.
Taking milk everyday was a culture of the people over centuries. Milk is an ideal food for all. Government needs to review its policy toward imposing high customs duty, VAT and supplementary duty on import of powdered milk.
In these circumstances, we would like to urge the government to withdraw supplementary duty on import of powdered milk and thus enable more people to take milk as the premium source of nutrition.

Mohd Ashraf Hossain
Central Bashabo, Dhaka

Lack of women entrepreneurs

Sir,
Entrepreneurship is the key to growth and progress of any country, since it leads to job creation. Bangladesh faces a lot of issues in entrepreneurial promotion, especially for women. Laura D. Tyson, a professor of business administration and economics at the University of California (Berkeley) and co-author of the WEF report, states that ‘A nation’s competitiveness depends significantly on whether and how it educates and utilizes its female talent. To maximize its competitiveness and development potential, each country should strive for gender equality.” But where do we stand as Bangladeshis. Gender equality is a myth and it holds true in every field especially in entrepreneurship.
Gender discrimination is one of the biggest barriers impeding the growth of women in many spectra of life. The word entrepreneur is linked with men in our society. In many countries like Bangladesh, India and Bangladesh women are pressurised by their families to stay in home and retain high standard of female modesty. Bangladesh is primarily an agricultural country. The majority of our population lives in villages and their women work in farms and fields. That’s the entire span of their life. They don’t have the interest or the potential to give rise to women entrepreneurs.
Additionally, women are not given enough space for marketing of their start-up ventures. Marketing is essential element in promoting any business. But women face major constrains when it comes to mobility, social networking and going out of their houses for outdoor activities to get more information regarding the venture market and its possibilities of expansion by meeting people. Orthodox families don’t support their females to go out and talk to other males. Perhaps, harassment has become so evident in our culture that people refrain their females to go out and interact with males.

Arifa, Chittagong

Letters to the editor

Make powdered milk affordable to mass people Sir, A media report recently said that some 50 per cent children in Bangladesh did not get milk as a premium source of nutrition due to low production and supply-side shortage of the dairy product. In early nineties the government imposed high customs duty and high supplementary duty on import of powdered milk on the plea that it would encourage people to produce more milk and the country would become self-sufficient in milk production. The subsequent governments have been following the same policy during the last 24 years. Milk production has not increased significantly to make it available to common people. Rather milk has become rich mens food owing to short supply and high price. Taking milk everyday was a culture of the people over centuries. Milk is an ideal food for all. Government needs to review its policy toward imposing high customs duty, VAT and supplementary duty on import of powdered milk. In these circumstances, we would like to urge the government to withdraw supplementary duty on import of powdered milk and thus enable more people to take milk as the premium source of nutrition. Mohd Ashraf Hossain Central Bashabo, Dhaka Lack of women entrepreneurs Sir, Entrepreneurship is the key to growth and progress of any country, since it leads to job creation. Bangladesh faces a lot of issues in entrepreneurial promotion, especially for women. Laura D. Tyson, a professor of business administration and economics at the University of California (Berkeley) and co-author of the WEF report, states that A nations competitiveness depends significantly on whether and how it educates and utilizes its female talent. To maximize its competitiveness and development potential, each country should strive for gender equality. But where do we stand as Bangladeshis. Gender equality is a myth and it holds true in every field especially in entrepreneurship. Gender discrimination is one of the biggest barriers impeding the growth of women in many spectra of life. The word entrepreneur is linked with men in our society. In many countries like Bangladesh, India and Bangladesh women are pressurised by their families to stay in home and retain high standard of female modesty. Bangladesh is primarily an agricultural country. The majority of our population lives in villages and their women work in farms and fields. Thats the entire span of their life. They dont have the interest or the potential to give rise to women entrepreneurs. Additionally, women are not given enough space for marketing of their start-up ventures. Marketing is essential element in promoting any business. But women face major constrains when it comes to mobility, social networking and going out of their houses for outdoor activities to get more information regarding the venture market and its possibilities of expansion by meeting people. Orthodox families dont support their females to go out and talk to other males. Perhaps, harassment has become so evident in our culture that people refrain their females to go out and interact with males. Arifa, Chittagong