Bangladesh - Belgium

Citizens’ Voice and Accountability Evaluation – Bangladesh Country Case Study
‘Lack of public trust in the elected government has made the caretaker administration an integral
component of Bangladeshi politics At the same time the onset of regular elections has not
removed mass politics, public protests and hartals’ (Datta,2003)
Local Government
The evolution of the local government system in Bangladesh is rather similar to India and Pakistan.
A form of local government has existed for centuries introduced and perpetuated under British rule
from 1765-1947. These were mostly intended to ensure tax collection and maintain law and order.
General Ayub Khan who seized power in 1958 introduced a system of local government called
‘basic democracy’. Since Independence, various forms of local government were experimented
with. In 1976,the Local Government Ordinance provided for three tiers; union parishad (UP)
(Union Council comprising nine elected members, two nominated women members and two
peasant representatives); the thana parishad (Thana Council) consisting of the sub-Divisional
Officer, Circle officer and UP Chairmen and the Zila (District ) Parishad to consist of .elected
members, official members and nominated women members. District elections were never held
and Government officials ran the District Council.
In 1980, the Ordinance was amended to include the institutions of ‘village government’ (gram
sarker) but this was abandoned under martial law in 1982. The last BNP government attempted to
re-instate this provision and gram sarkers were established but amongst criticism that they were
politically appointed with the intention to bolster BNP’s otherwise weak grassroots support. Gram
sarkers basically do not function at the moment.
In 1988, the Upazila Parishad Ordinance made provision for the Upazila to become the focal point
of local administration with a directly elected Chairman, under whom the Upazila Nirbahi officer
(civil servant) would manage day to day affairs. This system was abolished by the BNP in 1991
but failed to replace it with any other democratic form of local government. The AL came to power
in 1996 and commissioned a Report on Local Government Institutions which recommended a four
tier system; village, union, thana and district level and laid down detailed responsibilities for each
tier (as shown in the following table)
Table C.4.
Overview of local Government bodies
Tier of local
Government
Gram
parishad 48
Union
Parishads
Thana
Parishads
Composition
Supposed to be elected
but in fact nominated
Nine elected members
(one per ward) three
elected women members
(one for each of 3 wards)
Civil servants directly
recruited and seconded
Responsibility (according to 1997 Report on Local
Government Institutions)
Household Socio economic surveys
Birth, death , marriage registration
Supervision of primary education
Maintenance of law and order
Ensure participation in local government planning
Initiate participatory development of local transport infrastructure
Support GO and NGO development activities, including those related to
agriculture
Plan for natural resource management and development (including tree
plantation)
Create awareness for better primary health care
As above but also implementation of poverty alleviation programmes
As above but also development of integrated Five year development
plans on the basis of plans submitted by UPs.
48 Despite the Gram Sarker Act , this tier has not been properly formed
69