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

Abstract

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.