Dhaka, July 21 -- Bangladesh's impressive economic and social strides over the past five decades risk being overshadowed by a persistent failure to deliver meaningful and sustained reforms.

Our newspaper reported on Sunday that at the launch of 'The Economy of Scandal' in Dhaka, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) offered a stark reminder: reforms in Bangladesh are often slow, inconsistent, and left incomplete.

This critique is neither new nor unwarranted. Policy changes in Bangladesh frequently emerge as fragmented responses to crises, rather than as part of a coherent, long-term strategy.

Too many initiatives stall midway or are abandoned altogether, leaving structural inequalities unaddressed and systemic...