Local Government in Bangladesh

Local Government in
Bangladesh
• Local government is a vital organization for
managing local economy and development
and consolidating the democracy at the sub-
national and grassroots level of any country. It
is an integral part of the central government
of a country, recognized or created under law
for the management of local affairs of a
human settlement, promoting poor people
and participatory development at the local
level.
2
What is Local Government?
• In a general sense, local government is as the
formulation and execution of collective action at
the grassroots level designed by the central
government.
• Duane Lockard defines local government as
“a public organization authorized to decide and
administer a limited range of public policies
within a relatively small territory which is a sub-
division of a regional or national government”.
3
According to Graham, a good local government
possesses five qualities:
1. Participation
2. Transparency
3. Contestation
4. Accountability
5. Innovation
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Constitutional Framework
Article 59. Local Government
(1) Local Government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall
be entrusted to bodies, composed of persons elected in accordance
with law.
(2) Everybody such as is referred to in clause (1) shall, subject to this
Constitution and any other law, perform within the appropriate
administrative unit such functions as shall be prescribed by Act of
Parliament, which may include functions relating to-
(a) administration and the work of public officers;
(b) the maintenance of public order;
(c) the preparation and implementation of plans relating to public
services and economic development.
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Article 60. Powers of local government bodies:
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.
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Types of Local Government
Local government has two types-
• 1) Rural local government
• 2) Urban local government
Rural local government is for rural areas while

urban local government is for urban areas or
cities.
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Urban Local Government
• Urban local government includes city
corporations and municipalities (pourashavas).
In urban areas, city corporation are further
broken down into wards, mohallas, and
thanas.
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City Corporation
Bangladesh has 12 City Corporations right now around the country. Gazipur
City Corporation is the 11th City Corporation of Bangladesh. The list of total
12 city corporations are given below.
• Dhaka(North) City Corporation,

• Dhaka(South) City Corporation,
• Chittagong City Corporation,
• Rajshahi City Corporation,
• Sylhet City Corporation,
• Khulna City Corporation
• Barishal City Corporation,
• Narayangonj City Corporation,
• Comilla City Corporation,
• Rangpur City Corporation,
• Gazipur City Corporation,
• Mymensingh City Corporation. 9
Municipality (Pourashava)
• Municipalities provide civic facilities to the

municipal areas. There are 323 municipalities
in Bangladesh.
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City Corporation and Pourashava Administration
The heads of city corporations and pourashavas are

called mayors. Members are called councilors.
Mayors and councilors are directly elected every five
years. There are specific numbers of reserved seats
for women, who are elected directly.
• Mayor
• Councilors
• Reserved seats for women
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Rural Local Government
Present Tier of Rural Local Government

At present there are three tiers in rural local
government-
i) Union Parishad
ii) Upazila Parishad
iii) Zila Parishad
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Zila Parishad:
• An administrator (Deputy/District
Commissioner, a senior Civil Servant) is in
charge of each of the Zila Parishad. S/he is the
chief administrative and revenue officer of a
district. According to the new rule, each of the
Zila Parishad comprises a chairman, 15
members and five members in five reserved
seats of women
• The chairman and the members are elected by
an electoral college.
13
Upazila Parishad:
• The basic unit of administration of the country

is locally named as Upazila, which is an
integral component of the district and so to
say, a district in the miniature form.
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According to the Act of 2009 the Upazila Parishad
consists of:
• A Chairman‐ directly elected by the people on the basis
of adult franchise
• Two Vice Chairmen (1 Male and 1 Female) - directly
elected by the people on the basis of adult franchise.
• Ex‐officio representative members (all Chairmen of the
Union Parishads and all Mayors of Pourashavas, if any,
fall under the jurisdiction of the upazila).
• Three women members nominated by the government.
• Official members of selected government departments
specified by the government (without any voting right).
• Chairman, Upazila Central Co‐operative Association, and
• One nominated member from among freedom fighters 15
• All decisions are discussed and finalized in a
forum called Upazila Parishad which is
presided over by an elected chairman and
assisted by a mid-level executive of
professional excellence called UNO, who plays
a pivotal role in shaping decisions that
conform to government policies and cohere to
the financial constraints and regulations.
• UNO is the Chief Executive Officer of the
Parishad.
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Union Parishad:
• Union is the collection of villages. Union Councils (Union
Parishads or just Union) are the smallest rural administrative
and local government units in Bangladesh. Each Union is
made up of nine Wards. Usually one village is designated as
a Ward.
• A Union Council consists of a Chairman and twelve
members including three members exclusively reserved for
women. The boundary of each Union is demarcated by the
District Commissioner. A Union Council is the body primarily
responsible for agricultural, industrial and community
development within the local limits of the union.
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Functions of Local Government
• The main functions included policy

implementation, integration, public welfare,
maintenance of law and order, revenue
collection, development and adjudication.
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a) Reserved Functions:
• Police
• Magistracy
• Judiciary
• Revenue
b) Development Functions:
• Agriculture
• Fishery
• Water
• Power
• Horticulture
• Forestry
• Livestock
• Social welfare
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Various Problems of Local Government
System in Bangladesh:
1. Authoritative Central–Local Relations
2. Overlapping and overburden of functions
3. Resource constraints
4. Financial dependency on central government
5. Lack of political commitment
6. Weak accountability and transparency
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7. Influence of bureaucracy
8. Influence of parliament members
9. Lack of sustainability of the local government
system
10. Misuse of power and public wealth
11. Lack of visionary leadership
12. Lack of proper ICT facilities
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Local Government in Bangladesh

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Local Government in Bangladesh

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Local Government in

Rural local government is for rural areas while

• Dhaka(North) City Corporation,

• Municipalities provide civic facilities to the

The heads of city corporations and pourashavas are

Present Tier of Rural Local Government

• The basic unit of administration of the country

• The main functions included policy

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