Every year the number of the poverty stricken people increases for a number of reasons most of which remain unattended by the government and its concerned departments. Among those reasons are river erosion, flood, drought, tornado/hurricane, exploitation of rural people by village money lenders, excessive rate of interest charged for loan by a section of NGOs and people's ignorance. Many villagers lose everything in river erosion every year and hardly get back their lost properties. The other natural calamities also contribute a lot to make well off farmers poor damaging their standing crops or washing away seedlings and seeds in the beginning of the cultivation.

But the devastating reason is the exploitation by the village money lenders and a section of NGOs. Those who are marginal farmers take loan from the money lenders at high rate of interests. Whoso takes loan cannot repay it fully if the production fails to reach the target. In case of low output, if he pays back the loan in full under duress, he asks for loan from another money lender and sells the crops of the coming year in advance, surrendering the title deed of the piece of land he owns. And thus the number of the hard core poor is increasing.

Those who are sharecroppers have to buy seeds, pesticide, and to bear the cost of irrigation etc. As they have not any savings because of poor earnings, they approach for loan to a money lender and sell their crops in advance. And if there is natural calamity like flood, tornado/hurricane and drought, the production falls far from target and the sharecroppers return home empty hand leaving everything with money lenders.

There are many rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city who were once farmers, had landed properties, dwelling houses. A rickshaw puller who landed in Dhaka from Gaibandha said, "I had no intention to come to Dhaka. I was a marginal farmer and used to grow paddy in the land of my own. But being unable to repay the loan taken from the money lender, I had to surrender the piece of land with him and then decided to leave my village and now plying rickshaw in Dhaka I lead my and my family life somehow."

A section of NGOs also exploit the members of the middle class families. They sanction loan to the interested members thereof against poultry farm owner, fishermen, growers of vegetables, gold smith and potter. But if they fail to deposit installment of loan on time, the NGO officials take away their cattle, fowl, C.I. sheet of the house, fish of the pond, and even file cases against them with the Police station to get them arrested. It was surprisingly observed that even after the 15th November hurricane in 2007, some NGOs continued their loan installment collection from the heavily affected coastal people. They do not care for humanity and compassion.

One day an educated village woman said, "There is no such unkind organisation in this country as the NGOs. The officials show no respect for village people and always keep them under timid." An economist said there are more evils than good in the loans sanctioned by the NGOs. Frankly speaking, the exploitation in the rural Bangladesh continues because of feudalistic land system. Both Islam and Marxism oppose feudalism and capitalism because people become poor to poorer under them. Unless a radical reform is done in the land system of the country, the actual number of the poverty stricken people cannot be substantially reduced.