People’s hope faded as partisan LGs serve the interest of high-ups

It is now a tragic reality that the local governments (LGs) in Bangladesh are working as the agency of the government, not itself a government — an ambiguous situation indeed. A recent newspaper report stated that the partisan election system to the local government institutions has made local leaders more accountable to political high-ups than the masses they serve. Local government experts, therefore, have been stressing more over reforming the local government institutions to reach primary service delivery to the citizens neutrally, said the report.
LGs in many countries function effectively as they have the authority to make decisions and are given a wider space of autonomy and functional scopes. But in our country, the symbol-based partisan election system has made havoc on the local integrity and political violence enters into the homestead in rural areas where people live year after year with harmony despite political differences.
The unattainable functions of LGs, like, there are 502 functions of a Deputy Commissioner, 110 functions of a Zila Parishad, 31 functions of an upazila parishad, 248 functions of a city corporation, and 172 functions of a municipality make the LGs overweight to move. The functions could not be implementable due to the sheer number of duties while budgetary allocations to the LGs are declining. Between the last two fiscal years, LGs budget has decreased by almost 35 per cent.
We know the local government is said to be good for national democracy, development and good governance. It can play many vital roles including the welfare of local people and the development of rural areas. Besides, there is a general expectation that it is liable to provide the best services to the people. In the modern age, many countries prefer to reform at the local level of the government. In particular, local government has been established in Bangladesh through reforms at different periods at different times.
However, the people’s trust in the electoral system has eroded by this time of the incumbent regime, and the partisan system has almost engulfed our national integrity and tranquility. It is now imperative to reform the whole society from top to bottom by ensuring people’s participation in decision-making and implementation procedures.