POVERTY AND ETHNIC MINORITY IN BANGLADESH: A SOCIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION ON CHAKMA COMMUNITY

Abstract

This paper attempts to depict the deteriorating socio-economic status of the indigenous community as an ethnic minority in Bangladesh. The study focuses on the poverty of the community, which is deprived by the majority of Bengalis. This is explained through a broad spectrum of issues that constructed the structure of the discrimination occurring against the community in Bangladesh. The article is based on an empirical study in Rangamati through a survey method using a structured questionnaire. The structure of poverty and its correlates thereof were explained following a systematic poverty measurement technique. The study includes measuring the Headcount ratio, Poverty gap, Squared poverty gap, and Gini- coefficient that made poverty rate and extent of poverty. The major findings reveal that the Chakma community is not only suffering from severe poverty but also faces discrimination and deprivation to a great extent. Results reveal that the Chakma community’s large extent of poverty is caused by belongingness to the minority group while the group has lower inequality or Gini-coefficient among the group. Based on the findings, the study suggests specific policy guidelines for comprehensive poverty alleviation programs in order to improve the socioeconomic conditions of the indigenous community in Bangladesh.