Gram Sarkar to return after decades
Weak community-level oversight, growing rural security concerns and gaps in monitoring development projects have prompted the government to move towards reviving Gram Sarkar, a grassroots local government structure first introduced in 1980, to strengthen public participation in rural administration.
The proposed body is expected to play a role in maintaining law and order, resolving local disputes through arbitration, preventing crime and monitoring development activities at the village level.
Under the draft Gram Sarkar Act 2026, each of the 41,112 wards under 4,568 unions across the country will have a 17-member body comprising elected representatives, according to officials of the Local Government Division (LGD).
The draft law will soon be placed before the cabinet, several senior LGD officials told the media.
They said the proposed legislation was prepared drawing on the 1980 law introduced during the presidency of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and the 2003 legislation enacted under the Khaleda Zia-led government.
According to the draft, Gram Sarkar will work to build community resistance against crime, violence against women and terrorism, while helping maintain law and order.
It will also formulate plans for developing village roads and culverts, monitor the progress of ongoing development projects and regularly report to the respective Union Parishad.
Introduced in 1980, Gram Sarkar was abolished a few years later during the tenure of then president HM Ershad.
An attempt was made to revive the structure in 2003 through legislation providing for unelected members. However, the law was subsequently repealed after the High Court declared it unconstitutional.
Under the repealed law, each ward was to have a 15-member Gram Sarkar, with all members nominated by the local administration.
The latest draft proposes a different structure. Each of the nine wards in a union will have a 17-member body headed by the elected Union Parishad (UP) member of that ward, while an elected woman UP member will serve as an adviser.
The remaining 15 members will be elected with the support of at least 10 per cent of the voters in the respective ward.
Unlike the proposed arrangement, members of Gram Sarkar during Ziaur Rahman’s tenure were directly nominated by the government and received no honorarium.
Although the draft contains no provision for remuneration for nearly seven lakh members expected to serve nationwide, an official involved in preparing the legislation said the issue had been discussed in view of present-day realities. The Finance Ministry’s opinion has also been sought.
A provision in the proposed law has raised questions about the eligibility of individuals convicted of offences involving moral turpitude.
Under sub-section 9(d) of the draft, a person will be disqualified from becoming a Gram Sarkar member only if convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude and sentenced to at least one year in prison.
Consequently, individuals sentenced to less than a year in prison for such offences could remain eligible to contest the election, although they would have to wait five years after their release before doing so.
Legal experts have questioned the provision, particularly because the proposed local government body will be entrusted with important responsibilities, including arbitration and dispute resolution.
Supporters of the initiative, however, believe Gram Sarkar could also strengthen grassroots information gathering and public service delivery.
The body could help collect reliable information on food demand, nutritional requirements and childhood vaccination coverage in rural communities, reducing the scope for false or duplicate entries in government databases.