Recent Practices of People’s Participation in Different Avenues of Rural Local Government: Realities and Challenges behind Strengthening Decentralisation in Bangladesh

People’s participation in various avenues of local administration is crucial for strengthening decentralisation in Bangladesh, despite the fact that such participation faces significant. The main purpose of this research is to explore the most current trends in people’s participation in different avenues of local government. This research also examines the realities and challenges involved in strengthening decentralisation in Bangladesh. Using a quantitative methodology, this research found that different avenues of people’s participation in Union Parishads has fostered successful decentralisation since these avenues certify independent participation and enable them to share their opinions and influence decision-making processes. Since decentralisation facilitates the transfer of power from the central to the local level, people’s participation is functional within Union Parishads. Moreover, this research demonstrates that most rural people are severely challenged in participating in the different avenues of Union Parishads due to political complexity, institutional corruption, poor education, and general unawareness. The authors therefore suggest that, by implementing public awareness programmes, ensuring the maximum autonomy of local government units, and confirming the accountability and transparency of service providers, people’s participation can strengthen the decentralisation of rural local government in Bangladesh.


Introduction
process (Boko, 2002).In this regard, participation is essential for ensuring decentralisation.
Many mechanisms are available in the decentralised governance system through which people participate in decision-making (Kessy, 2013).The World Bank (1994) defines participation as the process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives (World Bank, 1995).
Participation is a function through

Research Method
The study was conducted using a quantitative approach and positivist philosophy, whereas an exploratory research approach was also applied.Quantitative

Demographic Information
As the main objective of this study was to explore recent practices of people's participation in rural local government as part of decentralisation, a quantitative approach was used to gather primary data.Data were gathered primarily through a close-ended (i.e., yes/no) questionnaire.In terms of demographics, Table 1 shows that 65% of study participants were male and 35% were female.The main basis for this argument is that decentralisation ensures the public procurement process.In this context, the participation and awareness of local people in the public procurement process play a praiseworthy role in enhancing public accountability in local government.At the same time, it is crucial that civil society can monitor public procurement to keep the process open and free of corruption.As numerous challenges (poor knowledge of public procurement processes, political biases, and corruption) limit public participation in the public procurement processes of local governments, it is essential to create a favourable environment wherein local people and civil society institutions can participate in development processes at the grassroots levels (Razzaque, 2014).Economic progress and social justice rely heavily on the engagement of the people in local administration, but local administration is ineffective in most developing nations-including Bangladesh.In particular, the looming black clouds of inefficiency, resource scarcity, and political corruption continue to cast a shadow over elected local institutions (i.e., the UP), which continues to be weak.Although the different standing committees of UPs are the primary institutions for citizen participation in local decision-making processes, people are empowered directly.The process enables the general public and civil society to participate in the formulation and execution of public policies and programmes in field administrative units (Roche, 2008).In developing nations like Bangladesh, decentralisation is the ideal strategy for including rural populations in development networks.In practice, however, informed of projects' progress during implementation.Public participation in PICs is highly artificial and undervalued.At the same time, the characteristics of involvement in the process of development planning are greatly influenced by the profiles, education, and economic standing of UPs.In fact, the selection of public needs-based initiatives and engagement of members of underprivileged sectors in local development projects are frequently hampered by influential local persons.In essence, rural elites gain from one another, keeping the poor and disadvantaged outside of the growth process.
Figure 1: Study Area

Figure
Figure 1: Study Area

Figure 3 :
Figure 3: People's Participation in Open Budget Meetings

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Figure 4: People's Participation in Village Courts

Table 1 : Demographic Analysis
Merely 12% of respondents were public/private officials.Most of the respondents had attained some level of basic education.