The flourishing of decentralised, autonomous and self-reliant local government bodies as envisaged in our constitution, has been a long-cherished aspiration of the people of Bangladesh. But the reality on the ground has been quite different from that of expectations, as evident from their administrative, financial, and policy dependence on the government at the centre.
In this backdrop, the interim government of Bangladesh has recently formed a commission for local governance reforms. Local governance is one of the vital pillars of administration in Bangladesh. Article-59 of the constitution stipulates that every administrative unit of the republic shall be entrusted to bodies composed of persons elected as per law, and its functions will include administrative work of public offices, maintenance of public order, and preparation and implementation of plans related to public services and economic development. Local governments are empowered to manage local affairs through locally elected people, and Article-60 prescribes framing of law by parliament to confer powers to local government bodies - including the power to impose taxes, prepare budgets, and maintain funds. However, these bodies could not be made effective in accordance with the constitutional vision due to lack of appropriate laws, rules, and regulations as well as their proper application.
A key criterion for decentralisation of administration is solving problems locally, thereby reducing the workload of the central government. For realizing this goal, the local government bodies need to be made
people-oriented democratic organizations through devolution of power, authority, and resources. Unfortunately, this has not materialised due to lack of intent and effort by successive political governments. Therefore, sustainable reform of local governance should be a priority area for the current interim government.
One of the chief drawbacks of local governments in Bangladesh has been the mayor or chairman-centric nature of most of these bodies, although these are supposed to be run democratically as per law, rules, and regulations. A reason for this may have been position-based elections where voters elect mayors, councillors, or members against specific posts. This results in a superior-subordinate outlook among the elected, as mayors and chairmen are deemed to be more powerful. A solution to this may be parliamentary style of election at local level, where everybody will vie for becoming member or councillor, and the elected members or councillors will subsequently elect chairmen or mayors through voting. This electoral process is likely to open up the door for democratisation of local governments.
Elections to local government bodies in Bangladesh were held on non-party basis till 2014. But the previous fascist regime went for party-based local level polls by incorporating such provisions in 2015. The criminalisation of politics was thereby extended down to the village level. Moreover, it became difficult for dedicated and patriotic citizens without party affiliations to participate in local level polls. Therefore, the provision of holding non-party elections should be restored for bringing back order in local governments.
The interventions in the local government affairs by elected members of parliament also violated the constitution. But the ousted regime made the MPs advisers to Upazila Parishads. Through this, the MPs used to establish their dominance over Upazila and Union Parishads. This arrangement should therefore be abrogated for ensuring independence and separation of power in local governance.
Another problem faced at the upazila level has been the dual administration of chairman and UNO, where the UNO remains at the helm of affairs as the chief executive officer. Besides, the provision of placing some government departments under the Upazila Parishad has not materialised till now. This system should be reoriented by putting the elected representatives at the helm of all activities at the upazila, district, and divisional levels.
Autonomy and financial self-sufficiency of local government bodies has been an old issue, which unfortunately remains unresolved even after 53 years of the country's existence. The local government financing in Bangladesh has three components, viz. local resources, government grants, and project financing. Although local resources should have received top priority in budget formulation, it is very disappointing that they account for a negligible share in the budgets for local governments.
It may be pointed out that much of the revenues earned by the government are in fact local revenues. Therefore, couldn't some of these, such as land taxes, be transferred to the local governments in order to improve their financial standings and thereby enable them to provide better services? Some lofty goals were spelt out for strengthening local governments and their financing in the 7th Five Year Plan (2016-20), but little progress was made in implementing those. For example, a Local Government Legal Framework was planned by combining 9 different acts and a few hundred rules applicable for local government institutions. It was supposed to cover formation, jurisdiction, taxation, financing, budgeting, and accounting of local government bodies. But deplorably, no tangible progress was made in the area by the autocratic regime.
The 7th Five Year Plan also emphasized the strengthening of planning and budgeting capacities at the local level, but there was no visible sign of improvement in this field. The plan urged institutionalisation of citizen participation, including that by the civil society, NGOs and CBOs in municipal businesses through bringing about appropriate changes in the legal framework. Alongside introduction of superior administrative and management practices cum procedures, it called for augmenting the revenue collection through improved financial system and capital budgeting. Again, the progress in materialising those pledges was minimal.
The local government institutions can play a vital role in improving public service delivery at the local level. The necessity for articulation of diverse needs of citizens and location-specific policies that bear fruit in heterogeneous local conditions make it imperative that local governments be strengthened all over the country. A comprehensive set of action-plans and policies should therefore be formulated in order to improve their financing and governance. Side by side, concerted efforts should be made to enhance transparency and accountability in their functioning.
Indicators and standards should be set for measuring service delivery performances, and the role of
oversight institutions should be broadened for conducting audits.
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