The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) organized a Special Session on “Gender Stories − Lessons from the two Banglas” on Monday, 6th February 2023 from 4:30 pm at Williamson Magor Hall, The Bengal Chamber premises in the esteemed presence of Mr. Subir Chakraborty, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Mr. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Former President of The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Founder, Managing Director and CEO of Bandhan Bank Limited; Dr. Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury, Former Vice−Chairperson, BRAC; Dr. Suranjan Das, Vice−Chancellor, Jadavpur University, Kolkata & Honorary Director, Netaji Institute For Asian Studies, Kolkata; and Mr. Sikder Mohammad Ashrafur Rahman, Minister (Political) and Head of Chancery, Deputy High Commission for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Kolkata.

During the programme in his address Mr. Subir Chakraborty, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, “This is a very special programme for us because today we have a unique opportunity to speak about and embrace human development and gender perspectives from the point of view of social scientists, healthcare experts and business leaders who have proved to us that profits and people do indeed go hand in hand. We are privileged that we have Dr. Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury amongst us today, his vision has had a distinctive role in achieving this success“.

The panel discussion on “Gender Stories − Lessons from the two Banglas” was moderated by Ms. Ajitha Menon, Political Economy Adviser, British Deputy High Commission, the eminent panellists were Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta, Former President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Senior Partner Intueri Consulting LLP; Prof. Dr. Paromita Chakravarti, Eminent Author, Professor, Department of English & Director, School of Women's Studies, Jadavpur University and Ms. Ananya Chakraborti, Advisor, West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights and Advisor, Pavlov Mental Hospital.

The discussion, enlightened tales of social development of two Banglas. In the last five decades since Independence, Bangladesh has performed extremely well in social index. Poverty, child & maternal mortality rate have reduced and the average life expectancy has increased from 45 years to 73 years. On the other hand West Bengal has also achieved scale in social sector as well. There were discussions on the history behind this success and how NGOs have worked with the Government in taking the Nations forward in achieving high social index.

The panelists shared their views − Mr. Ambarish Dasgupta shared his concern about the social stigma that is still very persistent in rural societies and also mentioned the need to create awareness in community to liberalize women in general. Mr. Ahmed Mustaque Raza Chowdhury highlighted on the importance in sensitizing the male members of the family who’re the dominant gender. He narrated his experience and also explained women’s participation in the BRAC. Ms. Ananya Chakraborty said − Post Covid child marriage cases went up, they have been doing workshops to reduce the number. Ms. Paromita Chakravarti said that there are more than ever numbers of women applicants in the higher education today; but yet the work participation are falling.

The panel discussion concluded with a special book release by Dr. Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury –“ আমার ব্র্যাক জীবন” BRAC is a respected name amongst NGOs, being ranked as the world’s largest, has done exemplary work in Bangladesh. Dr. Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury, Former Vice Chairperson of BRAC and Professor of Columbia University, USA has scripted the journey in this book, which is intertwined with his work life in BRAC.

The programme was co−presented by Bandhan−Konnagar, and was well attended by more than 100 participants.