Union Parishad
It is the lowest administrative unit of local government in rural areas of Bangladesh. Village Chowkidar Act "Union Parishad was formed after the formation of Palli Sangstha in 180. The present Union Parishad was formerly known as Union Committee, Union Board, Union Council, Union Panchayat. It has been renamed as Union Parishad since 1973. At present there are 4561 in Bangladesh. There are unions.
There are also three types of local government in the country. These are Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad.
At present, in each union, a reserved seat is formed by direct vote of the people with a chairman, 9 general UP members from 9 wards and three wards. Where a female member is elected. The Union Parishad consists of a chairman and 12 members with a term of five years.
An elected chairman is at the center of all the work of the Union Parishad. Who is the chief executive of this council. The decision of the council requires the approval of the chairman. The union councils deal with municipalities, police, security, revenue, administration, development and poverty alleviation, issuing various certificates and administering justice in certain union areas. The Union Parishad can try some criminal and civil cases by setting up village courts. In this case, according to the Village Court Act, 2006, the judicial work is conducted for the purpose of easy and speedy settlement of disputes between the people of the Union.
The compulsory work of the Union Parishad is ten and the optional work is 36.
At present the Union Parishad is governed by the Local Government (Union Parishad) Act, 2009.
Each Union Parishad has a Union Parishad Secretary (Grade-14) to manage all office work. Note that the chairman is the people's representative and the union council secretary is a permanent government employee. The Union Parishad Secretary issues summons or notice to the accused through the village police on the orders of the Chairman. The union council also has an accounting assistant cum computer operator. Note that there is one village police in each ward and one Dafadar in each union.
The chairman presents the budget through a special meeting of the union council and the council's own sources of income include taxes, rents and fees.
The elected chairman of the union council was administered the oath of office by the deputy commissioner of the district. On the other hand, the Upazila Nirbahi Officer of this upazila administered oath to the reserved women members and UP members.
Note that the Local Government Department of the Ministry of Rural Development and Cooperatives can control the functions of any Union Parishad or expel any member and chairman.