Local Government

in Bangladesh
During 1972-75
 In a democracy, the Constitution ensures legal
recognition of local government through Parliament
Acts incorporating relevant provisions (Khan, 1997: 11).
The legal basis and responsibilities of local government
in Bangladesh are incorporated in the 1972
Constitution in which Article 59 specifically states that
“local government in every administrative unit of the
Republic shall be entrusted to bodies composed of
persons elected in accordance with law” (The
Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
2004: 43). Article 60 stipulates that “for the purpose of
giving full effect to the provision of article fifty nine,
Parliament shall, by law, confer powers on the local
government bodies referred to in that article,
including the power to impose taxes for local
purposes, to prepare their budgets, and to maintain
funds” (The Constitution of the People’s Republic of
Bangladesh, 2004: 43).
 The Constitution, however, neither prescribes the
number of tiers nor the functions of the individual local
government bodies. Especially as concerns the rural
areas, local gov¬ern¬ment systems have come and
gone, following the changes in government at the
national level. None of the systems introduced since
independence have been allowed to function long
enough to become consolidated.
 Since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the
structure of the local government bodies has
undergone different changes. Some changes have
been occasionally made in terms of the nomenclature
of tiers of local government. However, little has been
done to establish these bodies as self-governing
institutions. Therefore, the structure of the local
government system has remained more or less the
same, although there have been different initiatives to
effect changes in the structure of the local
government bodies.
 After the emergence of Bangladesh as an independent state, the
Awami League government (1972-75) dissolved the inherited
system, but union and district councils were soon revived,
although under different names, union parishad and zilla
parishad. Although the thana council remained suspended, the
government constituted a thana development committee (TDC)
in each thana in 1972. The committee, composed of union
parishad representatives and thana level bureaucrats, was
initially headed by a member of the Constituent Assembly, but
was later transferred to the cir-cle officer, the head of thana
administration. Union parishad elections were held in 1973. An
average of nearly four persons contested the chair-manship of
each parishad and the rate of voter turnout was 54%. Despite
such an enthusiastic rural response to local elections and local
democracy, the Awami League did not hold elections to the
higher level councils, nor did it take any measures to devolve
authority and responsibility to any of them. Thus, not only was the
public denied its constitutional right' to take part in the process of
local governance, but more importantly, the various councils
were allowed to languish. In general, local government did not
receive any serious attention from the Awami League, at least
until the last days of its rule when it decided to change the entire
governmental framework.
 In 1975 the Awami League abolished the parliamentary system
alto-gether and introduced one-party presidential rule. As a part
of its strategy to establish party control over the periphery, the
central government de-cided to drastically reform the local
government system. The District Ad-ministration Act (DAA) was
passed in 1975, providing for the upgrading of the subdivisions
into districts and supplanting the zilla parishad by a District
Administration Council to be composed of MPs, representatives
of the national party, and district officials of both civil and law-
enforce-ment agencies, including that of the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini
(paramilitary force) and the army. The Act also replaced the
deputy commissioner as the head of district administration with a
centrally appointed governor who would be empowered to
exercise general supervision and control over both regulatory
and development administration in the district. The gov-ernor was
to be accountable only to the president of the Republic.
 The Awami League also proposed to introduce a similar system at
the thana level, which was to come into effect after a year. More
importantly, it proposed to abolish the union parishad as a tier of
local government and replace it with a multipurpose cooperative
to be compulsory in every vil-lage. The cooperative was
expected to be the basic unit of the development strategy. From
a democratic perspective, the Awami League's proposed reform
measures could be considered a retrograde step, as they did not
provide for any local control over public functionaries responsible
for local government and administration. The whole system was
planned at the top with little or no input from the periphery, and it
was intended to work under central-in effect presidential-control.
However, in August 1975, before the new system could begin, the
Bangladesh army overthrew the Awami League government and
terminated the presidential system.
 In 1975 the Awami League abolished the parliamentary system
alto-gether and introduced one-party presidential rule. As a part
of its strategy to establish party control over the periphery, the
central government de-cided to drastically reform the local
government system. The District Ad-ministration Act (DAA) was
passed in 1975, providing for the upgrading of the subdivisions
into districts and supplanting the zilla parishad by a District
Administration Council to be composed of MPs, representatives
of the national party, and district officials of both civil and law-
enforce-ment agencies, including that of the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini
(paramilitary force) and the army. The Act also replaced the
deputy commissioner as the head of district administration with a
centrally appointed governor who would be empowered to
exercise general supervision and control over both regulatory
and development administration in the district. The gov-ernor was
to be accountable only to the president of the Republic.
President’s Order -7 of 1972

Three tiers of Local Government

1. Union Panchayet( Under control of CO )
2. Than Development Committee- SDO
3. Zila Board-DC
This arrangement continued up to 1973
In 1973, President’s Order number 22 was promulgated
 Union Panchayet was renamed – Union Parishad(UP)
But functions and sources of income remained almost same
in the BDO 1959
 3 word , each word 3 member
 Chairman and vice-chairman ( elected by all voters of
the union)
 Five Years
 UP elections were held in 1973 throughout the country
 Thana Parishad and Zila Parishad continued to
functions as under the BDO, 1959 with the SDO and
DC respectively.
 On 24 February 1975 the fourth amendment of
constitution abolished all local government structure.
 65000 village will converted Compulsory Multipurpose
Cooperative
 Sub-Division would be converted to district
 District Governor
 Division would be abolished
 Nullified after the Father of Nation’s assassination