Ensuring Accountability and Transparency at Local Level Finance: A Study from Sylhet Sadar Upazila

This study examines the degree of accountability and transparency of local level finance in three unions (Khadim Nagor Union, Khandigaon Union and Tuker Bazar Union) of Sylhet Sadar Upazila. It is based on interviews and focus group discussions with general people and government representatives, as well as a detailed review of the existing literature. The study found that local government institutions in Bangladesh are very weak in providing basic services to the citizens and in promoting good governance to their constituencies due to a variety of constraints, including a lack of revenues, a low level of human capital in the local government bodies, the absence of participatory decision-making, and the lack accountability and transparency. The existing problems in transparency and accountability at local level finance are interrelated to a lack of people’s participation in the budgeting process and weak monitoring mechanism. The study recommends that (1) local authority should have enough power to generate revenue and to exercise financial autonomy, which also implies that grants from the government should be adequate, (2) every work area should be independently audited and supervised by the central government, and (3) there needs to be far more dissemination of local financial budgets.