Mohammad Mohabbat Khan; Decentralization in Bangladesh; Myth or Reality; First Edition 2009; Published in Bangladesh by A H Development Publishing House,

143, New Market, Dhaka-1205, Bangladesh; Distributor in India, Paragon Enterprise, 1, Meher Ali Road, (1st Floor), Kolkata-700017 (India); Page- 126. The decentralization of Bangladesh is a big issue. There are not so many books or literature regarding decentralization in Bangladesh. The author professor Dr. Mohammad Mohabbat Khan has tried to show courage to publish a book on it. And as I am a reviewer of this book I want to show the overview of the authors research work on decentralization. At the preface of this book the author has made an over view of this book. The changes of concept and practice of decentralization has gone a sea change during a period of twenty five years. Bangladesh has experienced different models of decentralization process. The chapters of the book also have some repetitions to keep intact and to maintain internal coherence and logic of a particular chapter. All the chapters of the book describe the decentralization process, its concepts and its reality. At the acknowledgement part of this book the author has cited some names of the individuals and organizations those are important for this book to be published. All the successful efforts of him and those people the book has seen the light of the day. The author professor Mohammad Mohabbat Khan is the senior-most Professor at the University of Dhaka in the Department of Public Administration. He has authored 15 books and 8 monographs and contributed over one hundred and eighty articles in professional refereed journals and contributed chapters to edited books when this book was published. The first chapter is introductory chapter. It provides an overview of decentralizations relationship with democracy, development, public administration and good governance. This chapter also sets up the base of the book. He says it is not an easy process and needs to be nurtured by constant, gradual and careful experimentation over many years. The process of decentralization during the 80s is the second chapter of this book. It includes the critical analysis of those processes. He includes past efforts at institutionalizing decentralization and popular participation at the local level, the
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process of decentralization in Bangladesh, appointment of Committee for Administrative Reorganization/ Reform (CARR), Findings of CARR, Recommendations of CARR. He also discussed about the mechanisms of decentralization, constitution of National Implementation Committee for Administrative Reorganization/ Reform (NICAR). The local government Thana Parishad and Thana Administration Reorganization ordinance, 1982 and resolution on Re-organization of Thana administration, the system of financial allocation and management for the upgraded thanas and also the other mechanisms. And finally a critique of the decentralization efforts and conclusion finishes this chapter. Bangladesh at the new millennium is the third chapter of this book. The author has shared his experience about experiences with administrative decentralization. In this chapter the author has discussed about the rationale for decentralization, forms of decentralization, deconcentration, delegation, devolution, transfer to nongovernment institutions, context of administrative decentralization in Bangladesh, administrative decentralization in Bangladesh, Ministry-Department relationship, realities of ministry-department relationship, ministry-corporation relationship, realities of ministry-corporation relationship, ensuring delegation. All this concepts in this chapter has been discussed on the experience from Bangladesh. Author has discussed about the decentralize access in chapter four. Here theoretical framework and Bangladesh experience with Mohammad Habibur Rahman is the base. The author has discussed in this chapter about decentralization and access: A theoretical framework, the concept of decentralization, forms of decentralization, deconcentration, delegation, devolution, privatization and deregulation, approaches to the study of decentralization, the administrative approach, the political approach, the public choice approach and the Marxist approach. The other concepts are the concept of access, access structure: interaction between bureaucrats and applicants, experience in decentralization in Bangladesh: A historical perspective, illusion of decentralization during British and Pakistan periods, myths, models and the mockery of decentralization in post-independence Bangladesh, Khaledas U-Turn and Present crisis, Hasinas promise for democratic decentralization, decentralization and access in decentralized local administration in Bangladesh: the case of a thana, access encounters: the experience of villages, spatial accessibility and communication gap, the nature of the access problem in the thana and finally the conclusion.

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With A. T. M. Obaidullah the author has discussed about LG in Bangladesh in chapter five. The evolution, reorganization and central-local relations are the focus of Bangladesh. The main concepts of this chapter are origin and evolution of local government, ancient period, Mughal, British and Pakistan Period, Reorganization efforts during Mujib government, Zia and Ershad regim, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Government, state of urban local government, institutional framework of urban local government, municipal government, special development authorities (SDAs), special purpose authorities (SPAs), special government bodies (SGBs), central-local relations, elections, participation, direct government control, finance, critical issues in local governance, structure of local government, functional jurisdiction of local councils, management of local affairs, role of members of parliament (MP), personnel management by an independent commission and at the end the concluding remarks of the author about this chapter. The legal and practical constraints of functioning of local government are chapter six. It is based on recent field-based research work, details the legal and practical constraints that impede the effective functioning of the union parishad (UP), the lowest tier of local government in Bangladesh. He the author has made a study on the functions. He has made a formal research and in includes the objectives of the research, methodology, study area, sampling and sample size, method of data collection and analysis, population and unit of analysis, rationale, limitations and the findings of the survey. The author also made some recommendations and finally the concluding remarks. The postscript describes and to some extent evaluates, actions of the last caretaker government and their outcome pertaining to strengthening of the local government system in Bangladesh. It includes the constitution of the commission, role of the commission, financial authority, limitations, and the recommendations. Finally this book attempts to critically analyze decentralization effort in Bangladesh. It has given special emphasis major decentralization efforts and their impact on the countrys local government system. The book also includes discussion on the last caretaker governments endeavor to reorganize the local government system. At last I want to say that the reader of decentralization in Bangladesh, and also the reader of its process and practice, and the follower of these disciplines will get help from the book.

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