A Critical Evaluation of People's Participation in Local Government

Participation is a wider concept with different degrees of engagement and is very pertinent in the process of decentralization. The aim of the study is to evaluate the nature of people's participation in the Local Government Institutions (LGIs) in Bangladesh. To establish inclusive LGIs government has been engaging in local government reforms for more than two decades. As participation in LGIs has gained considerable attention and LGIs have been recognized as key implementation mechanisms for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so it is worthy to constitute a participatory LGI. Since independence UPs are ruled by elected representatives so it is assumed to be a milestone for people's participation. The Bangladesh constitution and legislation has made provisions for inclusion and participation of poor and marginalized groups. But, due to political, social and cultural shortcomings there exist wide gaps between desired level of participation and field level reality. Though different authors have identified some number of initiatives for social inclusion but some others have identified lots of loopholes in the existing system of participation.