Municipal status in accordance with declaration criteria

Abstract

Rapid population growth throughout Bangladesh has resulted in a steady shift of population from rural to urban areas. In Bangladesh, municipalities are defined based on criteria laid out in the Municipal Ordinance 1977. However, some municipalities have very poor infrastructure and service levels, which raises the question of the validity of the municipal definition criteria contained in the Ordinance. In this work, 18 municipalities in different parts of the Rajshahi region were selected for study, with data collection mainly reliant on secondary sources. It was found that most municipalities in the study area are dominated by rural characteristics. Agricultural activities still play a vital role in occupation patterns and the major share of land use is agrarian, which is clear evidence of a diversion from the municipal declaration criteria stated in the Ordinance. The aims of this study were to explore the formulation of municipalities in accordance with Municipal Ordinance 1977 and to determine existing anomalies in municipal declaration practices.