Government and Housing for the Poor Policy and Implementation in Bangladesh

Abstract

The national constitution of Bangladesh recognised that housing is a basic need, and hence it is primarily the responsibility of the government. The 1993 National Housing Policy too guaranteed everybody's right to decent housing. However, in reality the poor are marginalised, and suffer from lack of resources and the bias of policymakers. The meagre housing sector allocation in the National Plans is mostly spent to build government offices and staff houses. Forced eviction is rampant while the most needy of the urban destitute poor is deprived of basic needs. The paper discusses urban housing in Bangladesh and shows that successive administrations have neglected the poor despite all policies, studies and government documents that stressed their particular needs. It exposes the gap between the policy and practice, and highlights the housing rights violation going on. It also notes that the city of Dhaka suffers the most, and suggests remedies.