Local government, administration & public service

The constitutional mandate

Local government in Bangladesh rests on Articles 9, 11, 59 and 60 of the Constitution (1972). Article 9 directs the state to encourage local government institutions composed of elected representatives, with special representation for peasants, workers and women. Article 11 ties democracy to effective participation through such institutions. Article 59 is the operative command: it vests local government in every administrative unit in bodies composed of elected persons. Article 60 empowers Parliament to confer on these bodies the power to levy taxes, prepare budgets and maintain funds. Candidates must retain that Articles 59–60 fall under Part IV-A and constitute the constitutional anchor that distinguishes elected local government from appointed field administration.

The tiers of local government

Bangladesh operates a layered system. In rural areas the principal tiers are the Union Parishad (the oldest and lowest unit, traceable to the Village Chowkidari Act 1870 and the Bengal Local Self-Government Act 1885), the Upazila Parishad, and the Zila (District) Parishad. The Union Parishad today is governed by the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act, 2009, providing for a directly elected chairman, nine general members and three women members elected to reserved seats from three wards each. The Upazila system was introduced under President H.M. Ershad in 1982–83, abolished in 1991, and revived under the Upazila Parishad Act, 1998 (operationalised after the 2009 elections); its chairman and two vice-chairmen (one a reserved woman) are directly elected.

Urban local government comprises Pourashavas (municipalities) under the Local Government (Pourashava) Act, 2009, and City Corporations under the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009. Bangladesh has eleven city corporations (Dhaka North and Dhaka South having been split from the undivided Dhaka City Corporation in 2011). For the Chittagong Hill Tracts, special councils operate under the CHT Regional Council Act, 1998, flowing from the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord of 2 December 1997.

Field administration versus local government

A recurring confusion the BCS tests is the line between elected local government and the deconcentrated field administration of the central government. The Deputy Commissioner (DC) heads the district, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) heads the upazila, and the Divisional Commissioner sits above the DC. These are appointed BCS Administration cadre officers exercising delegated executive, magisterial and revenue authority—not elected representatives. The country has eight administrative divisions (the eighth, Mymensingh, created in 2015), and 64 districts. The DC traces lineage to the Permanent Settlement of 1793 and embodies the colonial collector-magistrate. Understanding that the UNO (executive officer) and the elected Upazila chairman coexist—often in tension over control of funds and staff—is high-yield, because the 2009 amendment requiring the UNO to act as the parishad's secretary remains a live governance controversy.

The public service and constitutional safeguards

The civil service is regulated by Part IX of the Constitution (Articles 133–141). Article 133 authorises Parliament to regulate appointment and conditions of service; Article 135 guarantees that no civil servant be dismissed, removed or reduced in rank by an authority subordinate to that which appointed him, and not without a reasonable opportunity of showing cause—the core due-process safeguard. Article 137 mandates the establishment of one or more Public Service Commissions, and Articles 138–140 govern their composition, functions and the duty to consult them on recruitment, promotions and disciplinary matters. The Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) is the constitutional body that conducts the BCS examination.

Structure of the BCS

Recruitment to the gazetted republic services runs through the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination, conducted in three stages: a Preliminary MCQ test, a Written examination, and a Viva voce. The service is divided into cadres—general cadres such as BCS (Administration), BCS (Police), BCS (Foreign Affairs), BCS (Taxation) and BCS (Audit and Accounts), and technical/professional cadres including education, health and engineering. The framework derives from the Bangladesh Civil Service Recruitment Rules, 1981, the consolidation of the former Civil Service of Pakistan structure after independence. The apex training institution is the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) at Savar, established in 1984, which runs the Law and Administration Course and the Foundation Training Course for new entrants.

Quotas, reform and accountability

The quota system in BCS recruitment was a flashpoint: the government abolished quotas for first- and second-class jobs by circular in October 2018 after student protests, a decision the High Court struck down in June 2024, triggering the mass movement that culminated in the political upheaval of August 2024. Candidates should retain this sequence as a textbook case of the interaction between administrative rules, judicial review and mass politics.

Accountability mechanisms include the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), a statutory body under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004; the Comptroller and Auditor General under Articles 127–132; and the Right to Information Act, 2009, which empowers citizens against the administration. The Government Servants (Conduct) Rules, 1979 and the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018 govern conduct and penalties. Note that an Ombudsman is contemplated by Article 77 but has never been operationalised—a frequent PYQ trap distinguishing constitutional provision from institutional reality.

Why this matters for the exam

Local government, field administration and the public service form one of the densest scoring zones in the Bangladesh Affairs paper, and they reappear in the General Knowledge (Bangladesh) Preliminary segment and the Written paper alike. The BPSC has a documented preference for questions that test whether a candidate can separate three overlapping systems: the elected local bodies (Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad, City Corporation), the appointed field administration (DC, UNO, Divisional Commissioner), and the constitutional machinery of the civil service (BPSC, PSC consultation, Article 135 protection). Mixing these is the single most common error.

The high-yield retention list

Memorise the following as exam-ready facts. Constitutional anchors: Articles 59–60 (local government), Articles 133–141 (services), Article 137 (Public Service Commission), Article 77 (the never-established Ombudsman). Statutes: the four 2009 Local Government Acts (Union Parishad, Pourashava, City Corporation, and Upazila Parishad Act 1998), and the Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2004. Numbers: 8 divisions, 64 districts, 495 upazilas, around 4,500 union parishads, 12 city corporations (after Dhaka's 2011 split and later additions). Dates: Upazila system introduced 1982, abolished 1991, revived 1998/2009; Mymensingh division 2015; CHT Accord 2 December 1997; quota abolition 2018 and High Court reversal June 2024.

How it is tested

Expect Preliminary MCQs on "which Article guarantees a civil servant a hearing before dismissal" (Article 135) or "who heads an upazila administration" (the UNO, distinct from the elected chairman). The Written paper rewards analytical answers on decentralisation—whether Bangladesh's local government is genuinely empowered given that the DC and UNO retain financial and staffing control, and that the District Council chairmen were long indirectly elected. A strong answer cites Articles 9 and 59, contrasts the constitutional aspiration with the bureaucratic reality, and references the 2009 reform that made the UNO secretary to the Upazila Parishad. Current-affairs overlays—local-body election postponements, caretaker administration of municipalities, and post-2024 reform commissions—are routinely grafted onto these static facts, so pair every structural fact with its live development.