'Linkages between villages, local govt bodies a must for rural development'

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Bangladesh Rural Development Board (BRDB) jointly organised the seminar on 'Bangladesh Models for Rural Development and Local Governance' in the city to mark the launch of 'Participatory Rural Development Project (PRDP), Phase-2.'

The PRDP, popularly known as Link Model, aimed at promoting rural development, has been working to improve the quality of life of the villagers by establishing linkages among union parishads, NGOs and villagers, said Mahbubur Rahman, project director of PRDP Phase-2.

The linkages are maintained through village committee (VC) and Union Coordination Committee (UCC), he added.

Speaking as the chief guest, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said the government has given top priority to rural development and good governance at local level.

"An efficient local government would indeed be a major institutional framework in addressing the thrust areas and development goals where the Link Model may be the vehicle at the grassroots level from union parishad to villages," he said.

Japanese Ambassador Matsushiro Horiguchi called for massive decentralisation of fiscal management as well as service delivery to ensure improvement of local governance, specially at the union parishad level.

Akio Arai, resident representative of JICA, said the mechanism of PRDP is very simple. It is a framework to link villages with the local government institutions by developing a sense of cooperation and coordination among the stakeholders, including union parishad, government officials, community and local NGOs.

"By using those instruments the needs of the villagers can be incorporated into the process of development," he added.

"Capacity-building of local government is certainly important as without developing the capacity of the community, good governance cannot be ensured," he said.

The second phase of PRDP (June 2005 - May 2010) involving Tk 18 crore is being implemented in 16 union parishads. The main components of the project are implementation of the Link Model, development of small infrastructures, strengthening management capacity and skill training, said Project Director Mahbubur Rahman.

Abdus Samad Mullick, director general, BRDB, and Yoshihiro Kaida, chief advisor, PRDP-2, also spoke.

Abu Soliaman Chowdhury, secretary, Rural Development and Cooperatives Division (RDCD), chaired the inaugural session of the seminar.