The State of Governance in the Functioning of Union Parishad in Bangladesh A Study of Three UPs in Rajshahi District

Abstract

The term ‘governance’ has multidimensional approaches. It is the vehicle of achieving
the goals and objectives of any institution. In Bangladesh, Union Parishad is the most effective and
responsible service providing institution that works at grass-roots level. The main objective of this
research is to explore the current state of compliance of the necessary rules and regulations by the
UPs in ensuring socio-economic development of the rural people. It is an empirical research mainly
based on primary data which have been collected through questionnaire survey from eminent
persons and elected representatives of three selected UPs of Rajshahi district. The central finding of
the study is that the state of governance of the selected UPs is not strong enough. In spite of having
a good policy framework for governing socio-economic development of the rural people, a huge
gap remains in the UPs between policies and practices.