Corruption and political interference eat up almost half the total government allocations for Local Government projects.
As a result, people do not get desired benefits from such spending, speakers at a roundtable said Sunday.
They also said it would be difficult to come out of the ongoing corrupt practices without strong political will and a disciplined development strategy.
The Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) orgainsed the roundtable on 'Local Government Sector: the Challenge of Good Governance and Way Forward' at a city auditorium.
A report presented by the TIB at the round table says a local representative has to pay about 5 to 10 per cent bribe to the Local Government Division officials to get approval and allocation for a project.
About half the allocation for a project is devoured before it reaches the specific area. To get approval and allocation, about 5 to 10 per cent of the money is pocketed by the Local Government Division officials, about 8.5 to 10.5 per cent by the Local Government and Engineering Division at the time of implementation, about 15 to 20 per cent by local political leaders and about 2 to 3 per cent by the upazila level engineers, the study report says.
The report also says bribing is a common phenomenon almost at every step from service delivery to contractor at the Local Government institutions. Local political leaders and public servants also need to be paid for issuance of work orders for a development project.
Presided over by TIB trustee and former adviser to caretaker government M Hafizuddin Khan, the roundtable was attended, among others, by State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mashiur Rahman Ranga, Local Government experts Dr Zarina Rahman Khan, Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman, Tofael Ahmed, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman, its Deputy Executive Director Sumaiya Khair, former Secretary Abdul Latif Mandol and development activist Taleya Rahman.
Mr Mashiur Rahman Ranga said the present government was working to decentralise power so that the Local Government institutions could take decisions.
He also urged the local representatives to increase their incomes without looking for the government allocation.
"It is also a setback for development that the local leaders always look for the central allocation," he added.
Mr Tofael Ahmed said, a 'pocket' system had been kept everywhere so that all could take their share from a project.
"The system should be abolished," he said.
Mr Ahmed said social safety net programme had now come under question. It was evident that a large portion of the allocation was going to the non-poor.
The TIB study report says apart from the corruption and other difficulties, the Local Government authorities are facing a severe manpower shortage in district, municipal and union levels.
There are 40 per cent manpower shortage in municipalities, 25 per cent in Union councils and 20 per cent in district council offices.
TIB Research and Policy Department Assistant Manager Mohammad Rabiul Islam, Deputy Programme Manager Nahid Sharmin and Programme Manager Farhana Rahman presented the research findings.
According to the research paper, besides manpower shortage, there are political influence and corruption in hiring and transferring employees and deciding their salaries in Local Government institutions
