Governance at Grassroots–Rhetoric and Reality: A Study of the Union Parishad in Bangladesh

UP is the village based and lowest level of Local government in Bangladesh. There are 4,502 UPs in Bangladesh with an average size of 33.3 km² and an average population of 28,000 divided into nine wards composed of 15–18 villages. The UP is a rural elected government with 13 elected members; one from each of nine wards and three women members (from reserved seats—one from each of the three larger wards) along with a directly elected chairperson.

Article 59(1) provides that ‘Local Government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies, composed of persons elected in accordance with law. Article 59(2) provides the broad functions of local government as: ‘administration and the work of public officers; the maintenance of public order; the preparation and implementation of plans relating to public services and economic development’. Article 60 stipulates that ‘For the purpose of giving full effect to the provisions of Article 59 Parliament shall by law, confer powers on the local government bodies referred to in that article, including power to impose taxes for local purposes, to prepare their budgets and to maintain funds.’ There were two more Constitutional provisions like Articles 9 and 11 which further consolidated the operational aspects of local government. These two Articles were later dropped under the 15th Constitutional amendment.

Sir Charles Metcalfe in Select Committee of the House of Commons noted that “The village communities are little republics, having nearly everything they can want within themselves, and almost independent of any foreign relations. They seem to last where nothing else lasts. Dynasty after dynasty tumbles down; revolution succeeds to revolution; but the village community remains the same.” Select Committee Proceedings Vol III, app 84, p. 331, 1832.

Saint Manu (ca 185–100) is respected and honored as an Indian spiritual leader and political historian. His main work is called Manu Sanhita or Manu Smriti.

Chanakya (c. 370–283 BCE) also known as Kautilya was an Indian philosopher and royal advisor. He wrote the classic political treatise called Arthaśāstra which is considered to be a classic document in the field of economics, government and political science in India.

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http://​hrba.​undp.​sk/​index.​php/​introduction/​local-governance-human-rights-based-approach-and-gender-mainstreaming-in-the-context-of-europe-and-the-cis/​182-local-governance.

Upazila is the second tier local government at the sub-district level. On average each Upazila has about 12 UPs. At present there are as many as 483 Upazilas in Bangladesh.

All 5-Year Plans of the Govt. of Bangladesh highlighted the need and importance of local government as the prime institution for revitalizing the rural hinterland of Bangladesh.

Indian local self-government was still in many ways a democratic façade to an autocratic structure. The actual conduct of the business was carried on by district officials…No proper system of local government evolved” Hugh Tinker (1954: 70).

Supra note 330, Kudrat e Elahi Case, Dhaka Law Review (Appellate Division) Volume 44.

Declining poor refers to those with less or no access to NGO services, formal service deliveries or credit services; limited ability to contribute to labor market and perpetual dependency on social charity and state support.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) is the chief executive of the Upazila (Sub-district). He is also the focal point of the central government at the Upazila and coordinates all the line agency departments of the central government based at the Upazila. The UNO also acts as the member secretary of the Upazila Parishad (Sub-district Council).

Source: Aminuzzaman (2009c)

A survey was undertaken for this study in 23 Union Parishad in 12 districts covering all six divisions. As many as 385 adults (235 Males and 150 Females) were chosen through a purposive sampling.

UPs are broadly responsible for economic, social and community development. As set out in the Local Government UP Act 2009 have several functions including: Maintenance of law and order, including assistance to the law enforcement agencies and resolution of disputes; Adoption of measures to prevent disorder and smuggling; Conducting of censuses of all kinds; Registration of births, deaths, blind people, beggars and destitute; Planning and implementation of development schemes in the field of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, livestock, education, health, small and micro enterprises, communications, irrigation, and flood control; Implementation of other development schemes as assigned; Development and use of local resources; Motivation of people to use sanitary latrines; Promotion of family planning; Monitoring of development activities undertaken by different agencies (government, semi-government) in the Union; Protection and maintenance of public property such as roads, bridges, canals, embankments, markets, telephones, and electricity lines. In addition, specific rural infrastructure responsibilities defined for UPs are the maintenance of Rural Roads and the Planning and implementation of small construction projects, these include improvement of works on Rural Roads—for example, schemes under some food-aided infrastructure projects are implemented through the UPs. The UP is also responsible, through the union market management committees (UMMC) for the operation and maintenance of markets within the Union.

VGF is a part of the government Social Safety net programme. Under this program government of Bangladesh provide food and other basic needs to most vulnerable and marginal group like poor widow, aged and physically challenged and disadvantaged people during disaster.

VGD aims to promote self-reliance among the most vulnerable women, by providing them with food assistance and training for an alternative livelihood.

Test Relief is one of the social safety net programmes for the poorest section of the rural communities. The programme targets the poorest section of the rural areas who are landless, asset-less, unemployed and unskilled.

Field studies observed that rural people even the financially able ones are not happy with the performance of the UP. In general they consider that they do not get the real value for their money by the services being rendered by the UP (Aminuzzaman 2008).

Local Government Division (LGD), a department in the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives

For each Union of an Upazila, there is a Union specific Tag Officer. The Tag Office is supposed to visit and monitor the activities of the respective Union and report back to Upazila Parishad.

UP complex is a planned physical structure with 14 office rooms including a small public hall. The UP Complex is the office of the UP. All UP based extension workers of the government are supposed to have their office in the complex. The Village Court is also formally located in the UP complex. At present there are 2,518 UP complexes and another 525 are under construction within the current financial year.

Also see—Sen’s Capability Approach, http://​www.​iep.​utm.​edu/​sen-cap/​#H1.