Union Parishad Research Articles

Mapping the Violence and Inconsistencies of the Debut Partisan Union Parishad Election2016 of Bangladesh

Union Parishad, as the lowest tier of local self-government, playing a pivotal role in the local governance of Bangladesh having a bright historical legacy. Recently Bangladesh has introduced a party-based local government election which is a break to its history of being non-partisan in the past. But the introduction of the new system has brought newer violence and controversies. This paper is an attempt to examine, assess and analyze the election being particularly focused on doing an administrative analysis on the anomalies and violence observed. The substantial vehemence of the election are inducing to ask whether there was gap in ‘political decision making’ or ‘administrative execution’ of the policy in required manner. This paper is an attempt to draw a practical understanding of lessons learnt from the debut party-based election in this particular level using both primary and secondary data sources data collection techniques like ‘random purposive sampling’, ‘case studies’ were used to pull a better picture.

Electoral Violence in Bangladesh: A Study of Rural Local Government Elections from 2009 to 2016

Election is the cornerstone of democracy. Periodic national elections have been held in Bangladesh since the country gained independence in 1971. But periodic elections have not been held in all tiers of local government until in 2009. Local level elections are held for consolidating local democracy. Four local government elections have been held in Bangladesh from 2009 to 2016. Studies reveal that the role of the government and the opposition is not conducive to democratising the political system at local level through free and fair elections. Among these four elections Union Parishad election in 2016 was the most violent. The election saw many deaths and injuries and many irregularities. Confrontational bipolar party politics, internal disagreement in ruling party, many phases’ election, introduction of party line election and weak role of Election Commission (EC) were responsible for that violence.

Discrepancies between Women’s Reports and Men’s Awareness of Sexual Harassment: A Study among Representatives to the Union Parishads in Bangladesh

Discrepancies between Women’s Reports and Men’s Awareness of Sexual Harassment: A Study among Representatives to the Union Parishads in Bangladesh

Readiness of the Unioun Parishad for Achieving the Decent Work and Economic Growth Goal of SDGs: A Case Study of Chandanpath Union Parishad, Rangpur Sadar, Rangpur,Bangladesh

This After 2015 Sustainable Development Goals or UN Agenda-2030 is now a reality to go with this goals and targets for its all member countries. The purpose of this paper is to account for how lowest tier of our local government that is Union Parishad can help to achieve sustainable development Goals. In this paper my objective is to know whether our Union Parishad is ready to achieve SDGs Goal no 08 that is “Decent Work and Economic Growth” or not. To do this I have chosen a Union Parishd which is “Chandanpath” under Rangpur Sadar, Rangpur. I have collected my information through face to face interview of Public Representatives of Chandanpath UP, Focused Group Discussion with stakeholders and related document analysis. Combination of document analysis and information gained through interviews shows that our local governments are not in ready position to respond to and address today’s development challenges. After studying the different relevant documents we see that in developed countries local government playing a vital role in educating, mobilizing, cultural awareness, reduced prejudices and stereotypes, increased understanding of global inequality, and knowledge of the partner community and country responding to the public to promote decent work and contributing sustainable economic development. Though this practices on ground unequal, but in our country lack of knowledge and competence of public representatives, political unwillingness and insufficient resource are hindering the cooperation from having a larger impact in unemployment situation. This knowledge from study can be used to take further necessary steps from the policy planners and implementers of our country in a new light to achieve real economic growth.

SUSTAINABILITY OF UNION DIGITAL CENTRE IN BANGLADESH: HAS IT GOT INSTITUTIONAL ROOTS?

In Bangladesh, Union Digital Center (UDC), an ICT (Information & Communication Technology) based telecenter, began its operations in 2009 in only 30 Union Parishads through partnership between Local Government Division and the Access to Information (A2I) program under the Prime Minister’s Office, presently operating at all 4,547 Union Parishads of the country. It is a one-stop service outlet operating under the Public-Private-People’s Partnership modality, run by local entrepreneurs, hosted by Union Parishad and supported by Central Administration. But stakeholders and observers frequently question the sustainability of these UDCs especially those in rural areas where telecommunications and electricity are problematic. The purpose of the study is to examine the sustainability whether the UDCs got institutional roots or not. It also attempts to find out the factors having influence on the sustainability of UDCs and also the challenges and the possible remedies for ensuring sustainability. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods of research. It has been found that having high potentiality UDC’s sustainability is affected by various factors like Entrepreneur’s Qualification such as professionalism and technical skill, Infrastructure such as electricity and internet, Location such as accessibility and availability of needed services and Government Intervention such as governmental support and political will. Article visualizations:

Democratisation of local government planning in Bangladesh

This article explores the participatory planning and participatory budgeting processes of Bangladesh. These processes, seen as ‘social accountability measures’, were introduced by the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act, 2009. This study used a qualitative case-study methodology, backed by secondary documentary analysis, to assess how the processes were working in six union parishads (the lowest tier of government in Bangladesh). On the basis of both primary and secondary data, the study found that involvement of non-governmental organisations was an effective method of enhancing the capacity of union parishad functionaries to implement participatory planning and participatory budgeting. Positive outcomes observed included increased people’s participation, identification of socio-economic concerns, increased trust in elected representatives, increased transparency, changes in patterns of service delivery and improved viability of direct fund transfers to local government institutions. However, challenges to local planning and budgeting were also identified: failure to link policy, planning and budgeting due to a lack of capacity among local elected and government officers, structural mismatches between local planning and budgeting and corresponding processes at regional and national level, resource constraints, and local political interference.

Gender Differences in Effective Participation of the Elected People's Representatives to the Union Parishads of Bangladesh: Token Presence or Effective Participation

Abstract Effective political participation was measured with a questionnaire that was completed by 680 (347 female, 333 male) representatives to the rural local governance of Bangladesh, Union Parishads. The questionnaire included four scales. Females scored significantly lower than males on the scales of having influence on political decisions, active political participation and initiatives, and political commissions of trust; and significantly higher on victimisation from faulty meeting procedures. Influence on political decisions varied according to age group for females but not for males. Of the males, 94.7% participated in meetings regularly compared to only 30.1% of the females. Of the females, 16.9 % reported they were not informed about the time of the meetings, while this was the case for only 3.7% of the males. None of the committees used voting at the monthly meetings. Of the males, 94.9% reported that meeting decisions were taken through mutual understanding, while only 15.3% of the females were of that opinion. Of the females, 64.8% reported that decisions were taken by the chairman alone, and 19.9% of them that decisions were taken by the chairman and male members only. It may be concluded that despite recent legislative measures, female political participation still needs to be improved in Bangladesh.

Gender Differences in Effective Participation of the Elected People's Representatives to the Union Parishads of Bangladesh: Token Presence or Effective Participation

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Role of Community-based Organisations in Promoting Democratic Local Governance at the Grassroots in Bangladesh

Democratic local governance (DLG) is often regarded as a necessary precondition for transforming lives and livelihoods of people living in the rural areas of developing countries. This article tries to answer how community-based organisations (CBOs) shape the way services are delivered by local government agencies in Bangladesh. Furthermore, the article explores how the community’s, especially women’s, demands and interests are being negotiated at local political institutions. In doing so, the research focuses on Union Parishad (UP) as the core institution of the local power structure and Kachukata Gram Unnayan Parishad (GUP) as the case of a women-led CBO. It has been observed that Kachukata GUP has evolved as a full-fledged CBO over the years and currently mobilises marginalised groups to establish their rights and access to various government and non-government organisations. In addition to ensuring gender-responsive governance, GUP is also creating space for participation and developing interactive relationship between the people and power at the grassroots in Bangladesh.

Analysis of the Link between Central Government and Local Government in Bangladesh: A Case Study of Union Parishad

<p><em>Local government is one of the most significant parts of the central government. In the past, the control of central government over local government was minimal. Afterward, several presidential orders were notified to raise the power of local government. However, power and authority of local government were increased with pen and paper but not in practice. In this study, the scenario of the Union Parishad was analyzed as a part of local government, since it has to perform many activities with the scarcity of resources. The objective of this analysis is to investigate the nature of the relationship between the effects of limited resources to the activities of Union Parishad. In this research, data was collected from some local government representatives and some personnel of Ishwardi Upazila, Bangladesh through questionnaire and interview. First, the study reveals that local government always faces several particular problems due to lack of resources in case of distribution of relief cards to the poor villagers, a donation in disaster and exceptional circumstances, a contribution in educational and religious institutions, etc. The graphical analysis demonstrated the scenario between the requisitions of the Union Parishad to the central government and the percentage of those requisitions actually fulfilled. The outputs of this study summarized that the actual supply from central government was minuscule than the demand of Union Parishad. Hence, it could not deliver services accurately. Some recommendations have been provided to overcome the problems of a Union Parishad, which include that the government should enhance Annual Development Programme (ADP) allocation to ensure people’s participation in formulating and implementing development projects, and the control of the Union Parishad over the local resources has to be increased.</em></p>

Women’s Participation in Decision Making Process of Local Government in Bangladesh: A Study of Nine Union Parishads

To achieve any development initiatives role of women’s are indispensable especially country like Bangladesh which have huge numbers of women’s human resource. The recent local government reforms initiate to empower women’s in the grassroots level and has had create reserved quotas for women’s in the Union Parishad and they elected through adult franchise in competitive election. In context of local government, women’s concerns had surfaced intermittently and were highlighted in the government reform agenda as evident in the last Local Government Reform of 1997. As a consequential effect Local Government (Union Parishad) Amendment Act 1997 was promulgated. It provides 3 directly elected women members in the Union Parishad from 3 reserved seats. However, there are serious lacunas in gender balancing both in terms of governance policy and reform agenda. Union Parishad is the most popular democratic institution at the grassroots level. Therefore, the state of women’s participation at this level is crucial and deserves special attention to empower them as participation and empowerment are closely related. In Bangladesh, women’s are always deprived in their field of work. The social structure of Bangladesh still work pessimistically regarding political participation of women’s as consequence women’s do not participate in resolution construction process actively. The research find out causes of mistreating women’s regarding their duty and their role. And find problems that faced by the women’s representatives during execute their task in the Union Parishad. The study also provides necessary steps need to solve the problem to ensure women’s participation and to ensure proper development in Bangladesh.

Making innovations work: local government–NGO partnership and collaborative governance in rural Bangladesh

ABSTRACTThis article reports on a local government–NGO partnership in rural Bangladesh. The findings suggest that BRAC’s Strengthening Local Governance initiative, through partnership with Union Parishads (the lowest tier of the existing local government structure), has been successful in strengthening the governance of Union Parishads by changing the mindsets of Union Parishad officials through building their capacity and mobilising people in the community to become involved in the Union Parishad’s service delivery process. As a result, the service delivery process has been streamlined, corruption reduced, and accountability and transparency increased.

Политико-административный интерфейс координирования действий местных органов власти в Бангладеш: обзор литературы

The purpose of the study is to review the history of politicization in local government (LG) and determine the major factors that affect local coordination in Bangladesh maintaining the relationships between politics and administration under the changing provisions of the Upazila Parishad (UZP) Act of 2009 and the partisan LG provisions of 2015. The study is entirely based on a literature review where only qualitative data has been explored. Eighteen documents were selected as a data set through searching Web of Science, SCOPUS and Google Scholar databases by using the relevant key-words. The study found a number of factors that are outlined by inter- and intra-organizational perspectives which negatively effect on local coordination in Bangladesh. Among these factors, lack of proper division of work, financial dependency on central government, lack of a chain of command among LG bodies, and the compulsory advisory role of Member of the Parliament (MP) over UZP are found to be major inter-organizational factors, whereas dual loyalty of transferred departments, unequal project distribution among Union Parishads (UP), and the domination of non-elected members in UZP are also identified as intra-organizational factors that are negatively associated with local coordination. Despite these existing problems, recently adapted partisan LG provisions are also creating a huge conflict in not only the local administration but also in local politics. In this regard, the government will have a great opportunity to address these burning issues properly through removing these legal and practical barriers for ensuring better local coordination.

Epidemiology of Drowning in Bangladesh: An Update.

Over one-quarter of deaths among 1–4 year-olds in Bangladesh were due to drowning in 2003, and the proportion increased to 42% in 2011. This study describes the current burden and risk factors for drowning across all demographics in rural Bangladesh. A household survey was carried out in 51 union parishads of rural Bangladesh between June and November 2013, covering 1.17 million individuals. Information on fatal and nonfatal drowning events was collected by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Fatal and non-fatal drowning rates were 15.8/100,000/year and 318.4/100,000/6 months, respectively, for all age groups. The highest rates of fatal (121.5/100,000/year) and non-fatal (3057.7/100,000/6 months) drowning were observed among children 1 to 4 years of age. These children had higher rates of fatal (13 times) and non-fatal drowning (16 times) compared with infants. Males had slightly higher rates of both fatal and non-fatal drowning. Individuals with no education had 3 times higher rates of non-fatal drowning compared with those with high school or higher education. Non-fatal drowning rates increased significantly with decrease in socio-economic status (SES) quintiles, from the highest to the lowest. Drowning is a major public health issue in Bangladesh, and is now a major threat to child survival.

The ward sabha in Bangladesh – lessons from Kerala and West Bengal

Under the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act 2009, the legal provisions for ward sabha (ward councils) remain non-functional since implementation of the Act in 2011. This policy note attempts to outline the limitations of the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act 2009. The study also provides a few practical recommendations which may need further amendment of the relevant laws in Bangladesh. The amendment may also broaden the scope and activity of the ward sabha as a forum for promoting deliberative democracy. However, consideration should be given to reducing the role of the ward sabha as an executive agency as it is insufficiently resourced to perform the executive functions outlined in the 2009 Act; rather the immense potential of the ward sabha as a forum for wider deliberation across all the elected bodies should be exploited.

People’s Voting Behavior In Local Election: A Study On Annadanagar Union Parishad , Pirgachha , Rangpur.

People’s Voting Behavior In Local Election: A Study On Annadanagar Union Parishad , Pirgachha , Rangpur.

The Role of Local Government in Developing Countries: Learning from the Cases of Bangladesh’s Union Parishads

Local government is considered as an inextricable part of the government system that provides rural people with services. In developing countries like Bangladesh where poverty still dominates, local government plays a vital role in improving the living conditions of the rural poor. Indeed, the role of local government may be more important in developing countries. Local government can be considered as the most significant channel through which government can reach the doorsteps of the rural poor. This study aims to contribute to the literature by looking at some cases of a developing country. In Bangladesh, local government lacks the capacity to provide the rural poor with effective services. This study looked at the case of the Union Parishads (UPs) in Bangladesh as an example of local governments in developing countries to examine the prevailing problems and future prospects in delivering public services to the rural poor and encouraging public participation. In doing so, three UPs (Kalirbazar UP, Moynamoti UP and Bijoypur UP) were chosen as the study area. Utilizing a mixed-method approach, this study found that local residents (villagers) have increasing need for the delivery of public services by their UP. A lack of service delivery coordination, lack of funds, and limited authority are identified as the major challenges. To address these challenges and other issues, we offer some policy recommendations. A transparent selection process should be implemented for the beneficiaries of public service and assistance programs. A consensus among the committee members should be in place and follow-up feedback provided by the local public. The UP should have adequate resources to maintain the proper level of service delivery. The UP should establish some revenue generation programs, related to the development, beyond the current tax collection. The UP should have the proper level of autonomy to provide services without undue pressure from political elites. Having more public participation from the local population as well as the general satisfaction of the public would help to accomplish this.

Maiden Partisan Rural Local Government Elections: Bangladesh Experience

A paradigm shift in the political system has been taken in Bangladesh on 12 October, 2015 with the final approval by the Cabinet to hold local polls on partisan basis. The long historical practice of non-partisan local polls has been shifted to first ever partisan poll that brought major challenges for the existing confrontational political parties of Bangladesh. Ruling Bangladesh Awami League considered demonstrating its popularity at grass-root level and controlled all political institution through this election while Bangladesh Nationalist Party had opposed these partisan local government elections as a political trick with an ill motive by the government. For the first time in Independent Bangladesh, 9th Union Parishad[1](UP) election hold on partisan basis at six phases across the country from March to June 2016. The articles tried to explore the experiences of this maiden partisan UP polls and what are the immediate consequences on the local governance as well as electoral system through reviewing seceondary materials specially the Daily Newspapers. Unfortunately massive violence, record deaths and uncontested elected Chairman, election fraughts & irregularities, reluctant role of Election Commission, strong dominant of ruling party over electoral system were common phenomenon in this maiden partisan election.[1] Lowest tier of rural local government in Bangladesh.

Prevalence of ovine footrot in Brahmaputra Chars (shoals) in Mymensingh

A retrospective cohort study was conducted from July 2012 to August 2013 to determine prevalence of ovine footrot in chars (Shoals) of Mymensingh Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh, centred in Paranganj Union Parishad. A field survey used a prepared questionnaire and investigation of farm management. The prevalence of ovine footrot was 4.2% in the study group of 687 sheep, in 106 farms. The prevalence differed according to farm type and housing system. Prevalence of ovine footrot was higher (9.5%) in farms where sheep and other livestock were housed under the same roof. Prophylactic medication and footbath practice were absent. Common care and management practices were sheep bath, house and floor cleaning, deworming, and therapeutic medication. Highest prevalence (7.0%) was recorded in farms where prophylactic medication and deworming was irregular, and antiseptics were not used in sheep bathing and cleaning of sheep house and floor. The results suggest that improvement of the housing environment and management practices are required to control footrot.Bangl. vet. 2014. Vol. 31, No. 2, 74-83

Impact of Climate Change on the Socio-Economics of Aquaculture in the District of Noakhali, Bangladesh

The study examined the role of technology to aquaculture farmers vulnerable to climate change and the study also identified common categories of aquaculture practices in the coastal district Noakhali, Bangladesh and the vulnerabilities associated with such aquaculture practices. The study used extensive field visits, interviews with the key informants of regional fisheries and livestock development component (RFLDC) and farmers, personal communications, questionnaire survey and focus group discussion as the main procedures to collect data and information. The study found four common categories of aquaculture in the mainland, accreted and newly accreted lands of Noakhali and characterized those with technology level, size, dependencies, markets, ownership, species mix, constraints and vulnerabilities to changing climate. Average net returns from the technology induced aquaculture in community based ponds and waterlogged paddy lands were 905.33 and 362.78 USD/ha/year respectively. The study found the pond aquaculture in the newly accreted lands more vulnerable to climate change than other types. RFLDC, which is a joint collaboration project of Government of Bangladesh and Danish international development agency (DANIDA), had been involved in extending technology to the poor farmers for sustainable development of the farmers’ livelihood through agricultural activities. Farmer Field Schools, Community Based Organizations (CBOs), CBO associations and Union Parishad have been found to be playing very effective role for the development of aquaculture.