He said the lawmakers usually think building infrastructures is the only way to development, which in fact helps them in securing more votes in elections.

"Success of poverty alleviation lies in basic changes in health and education sectors, which are yet to improve significantly," said Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC).

He observed this while presenting a paper at a seminar on 'Poverty Alleviation and Good Governance' that began yesterday at the National Economic Council auditorium in Dhaka.

Social Science Research Council (SSRC) of the Ministry of Planning organised the two-day seminar in association with the Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh (CDRB), a non-governmental research organisation.

In his paper, Rahman also pointed out some achievements in poverty reduction programmes by the government and other organisations.

According to him, Bangladesh saw a moderate decline in poverty at roughly one percentage point a year though it leaves over 40 percent of the population in poverty at the close of the decade.

The country also witnessed better progress in non-income dimensions including primary school enrollment, immunisation, and female education than in income dimensions of poverty, he added.

Rahman suggested that the government should give more emphasis on managing micro-governance than macro-governance.

Mizanur Rahman Shelley, chairman of CDRB, said the objective of the seminar is to identify content, nature and texture of the interrelationship between poverty and governance, which is required for poverty alleviation.

Fazlur Rahman, secretary of the Ministry of Planning and also member-secretary of the SSRC, also spoke at the inaugural function.

Participants of the seminar will discuss different aspects of the topic at three sessions today.