Role of local government in indigenous market management in the rural areas of Bangladesh: Do these markets play development roles?

Abstract

Hat-Bazars are the indigenous markets that work under the supervision of Local Government and owned by the Local Government in Bangladesh. But, there are challenges for proper management of the markets. Hat-Bazar under local government has the following characteristics: 1. it has legal entity under Local Government bodies and formed through an act of legislature named The State Acquisition and Tenancy Act, 1950, 2. it helps the local Government bodies to earn revenue and maintenance expenses, 3. local businessmen and farmers can market their products and crops in these Hat-Bazars, and 4. central Government also earns revenue getting the land tax, VAT, income tax from the Hat-Bazars. Objectives of the study were to learn the lease procedure of Hat-Bazar, to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Hat-Bazar and to analyze the Hat-Bazar management under Upazila Parishad and Pourashava and to find out the ways for augmenting their income and its efficient and effective utilization.