| dc.description.abstract | The thesis explores the effectiveness of Bangladesh Rural Development Board
(BRDB) in rural poverty reduction. The BRDB poverty reduction programs have been
transformed from a sustainable model commonly known as Comilla Model to a global
architecture of development by adopting microfinance as anti-poverty tool, a part of
neoliberal hegemony. Qualitative case study design was adopted for the study. The
data were collected utilizing multi-method data collection techniques i.e. in-depth
interview, focus group discussion, key informants’ interview and documentary
evidences. The data were collected from the BRDB’s beneficiaries, non-beneficiaries
and staffs. The study adopted a Foucauldian perspective of neoliberal governmentality
where individual is held responsible for his/her welfare by overlooking structural
factors and enforcing direct and indirect mechanisms for controlling individuals. The
study also analyzed the organizational practice of the BRDB in the implementation of
microfinance program in the light of Lipsky’s street level bureaucracy.
The study reveals that the BRDB’s microfinance conditionalities are less poor
oriented. The BRDB’s adopted model is inappropriate for beneficiaries in terms of
loan amount, disbursement time and procedure. The loan amount is too tiny to invest
in productive investment. Moreover, disbursement time and procedures are not
designed in keeping mind of the need of the beneficiaries. Secondly, group liability
approach in practice becomes individual liability and individuals are to pay price for
that. The individuals are liable for ensuring repayment of the members and compel to
repay defaulter’s due loan. Thirdly, although the BRDB operates cooperative society,
the societies work as a mechanism of surveillance in ensuring repayment. The
beneficiaries are unaware of the principles and benefits of cooperative society. In
addition, the cooperative societies are dominated by better-off individuals and they
also do not always follow democratic decision making. Fourthly, the saving and share
work as instrument of disciplining the beneficiaries instead of capital accumulation.
The beneficiaries keep saving to receive loan and the BRDB takes saving as collateral.
The BRDB adjusts beneficiaries saving and share in case of default loan in any group.
viii
Finally, the skill development has become individual responsibility as more concern is
now being paid to cost recovery and training is given less priority.
Earlier studies failed to ascertain the broader poverty policy and structural factors
responsible for financial inclusion. Additionally, some studies argued that non-profit
oriented MFIs have greater outreach than profit oriented MFIs. The study reveals that
even the non-profit MFIs could not reach to the poorest through adoption of neoliberal
governmentality. The study found that neoliberal policy of market solution of poverty
problem provides a financial market for the better off instead of poor. The previous
scholarships failed to demonstrate how neoliberal governmentality has created an
unfavorable environment on microfinance participants and street level bureaucrats as
individuals, which deters outreach to poor. The study shows how imposing neoliberal
policy of individual responsibility deters outreach by overlooking structural factors.
The structural forces are dominant in organizing cooperative society, screening and
inclusion of members, and women participation in microfinance. The structural forces
which shape microfinance outreach include class, gender, kinships, patriarchy and
administrative hierarchy. Cooperative society members allow an individual to become
member based on kin relationships and repayment capability. Female inclusion as
beneficiaries is used as a matter of convenience both by their male family members
and by the BRDB staffs. The BRDB’s structure imposes all burdens on individual
through adoption of self-sustainability. The beneficiaries are to bear the cost of
microfinance operation which deters the BRDB’s microfinance outreach to poor.
Thus, structural forces shape inclusion process as ‘technologies of domination’ and
narrows down the route for poor to emerge as participants.
This study also examined the institutional practice of the BRDB in microfinance
operation. The study found that the BRDB microfinance program is incompatible with
the institutional practice as it follows performance management tactic of NPM along
with traditional bureaucratic practice. The performance management is constrained by
organizational factors (such as organizational context and climate as well as personal
ix
values and motivation of employee). The BRDB staffs use both prescribed and un-
prescribed coping mechanism to adopt in the environment, which take themselves
away from defined policy goals. The organizational factors include performance
management, practice of simplification, structural arrangement, project orientation,
motivation and coordination. Although, the success of poverty reduction through
‘numbers’ has been achieved, this does not account for unmeasured aspects of
success. Consequently, the BRDB has been facing multiple problems in microfinance
operation, which include goal displacement, demotivation and segregated project
implementation. Therefore, the adoption of neoliberal tools of NPM has derailed the
BRDB from its mission of poverty alleviation and these tools are being used as
survival tactics for the BRDB and serving better-off.
The study generates new insight regarding microfinance which was largely
overlooked by earlier studies of impact analysis. The study reveals that microfinance
is not a panacea which can be implemented indiscriminately as antipoverty program.
Policy makers may take measure based on the felt need of the poor and rethink about
structural forces which determines poor’s participation in microfinance program.
Moreover, ignoring organizational practice may jeopardize reform initiatives in the
organizations, which are working for the poor. Therefore, an integrative service
delivery framework should be developed to enable overcoming multiple hurdles face
by poor regarding their health, education and skill development along with flexible
financial service. | en_US |
| dc.subject | bangladesh rural development board (brdb), rural poverty reduction, microfinance, neoliberal governmentality, qualitative case study, beneficiaries, cooperative society, structural factors, financial inclusion, individual responsibility, poverty policy, organizational practice, performance management, skill development, antipoverty program. | en_US |
