Village leaders and rural development in Bangladesh
2008
Ando, K.(Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Center for Southeast Asian Studies) | Uchida, H. | Rahman, H. | Hossain, S.M.A.
A village committee was established to look after rural development activities that were initiated by joint efforts of villagers and staff members of the Joint Study on Rural Development Experiment (JSRDE) project team sponsored by JICA in Bangladesh. The committee was formed of the so-called traditional village leaders, or matabbors, some of whom proved to be active in enhancing villagers' unity and devotion to village public affairs. At the same time, a village coordination meeting of local government officers was formed to coordinate the activities of the government concerning rural development. The Thana (local administrative office) officer played pivotal roles in organizing the meeting. An effort was made to 'link' the organizations of local governments and the village committee, so that the governments ' rural development services were channeled into the village through a public, formal 'door' of the village. Various trials implemented in the village indicated that successful linkage hinges upon the single facet of 'openness' or 'transparency' in information dissemination, which had been rather lacking in rural Bangladesh. The important processes of formulating the village committee and the village coordination meeting of local governments and clues for successful communication and dissemination of related information are documented in this paper. Moreover, analysis of an economic aspect of rural infrastructure reveals that bridge construction in the village was efficient in generating income for the poor.
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