Status of zila parishad at rural local government in Bangladesh: An empirical study

This paper aims to uncover the status of the Zila Parishad among the three rural local government units of Bangladesh. This study is undertaken based on qualitative analysis where both primary and secondary data were collected. Primary data were obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire from Zila Parishad officials, Local Government experts and academicians, and the general people. According to the findings of this paper, Zila Parishads have failed to provide appropriate and reliable public services for not having sufficient financial sustainability and to some extent, not having appropriate division of work due to absence of committee structure in most of the cases. Alongside, Zila parishad works on some development projects with ADP grants but there are some cases of corruption during the implementation of those projects. There is no robust framework in place to ensure transparency and accountability in Zila Parishad. Therefore the parishad is dysfunctional and ineffective in Bangladesh. This study offers some useful policy notes for improving the Zila Parishad structure and making it a more successful local government institution in future.