From Policy to Practice: Assessing Grievance Redress Systems in Bangladesh’s Union Parishads

Bangladesh's 2015 Grievance Redress System (GRS) policy envisages a web-based, trackable complaint mechanism at every tier of government, but whether this has reached the Union Parishad (UP), the lowest tier of local government, remains unclear. Using an exploratory qualitative design in two Union Parishads (Batiaghata and 1 No. Jalma) in Khulna district, this study examines whether a digital GRS has been established at the UP level, how it functions where present, and where absent- why implementation has stalled. Data were collected through five key informant interviews with UP officials and twenty in-depth interviews with service recipients, analyzed thematically. The study reveals that no digital GRS exists in either studied UP; grievance handling relies on complaint boxes and face-to-face communication. Officials attribute this to limited budget, lack of manpower, and unclear directives, while cautioning that an online-only system could exclude residents who are not literate or lack smartphones; a digital divide that makes offline channels more accessible at present. In its absence, accountability is maintained informally and, sometimes, through brokerage or escalation to higher authorities. These results are limited to two Union Parishads in Khulna district, and the study offers cautious recommendations for treating digital and offline grievance handling as complementary.