Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development

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Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ পল্লী উন্নয়ন একাডেমী (বার্ড) started its journey on 27 May 1959 as a Training, Research and Action Research institute in rural development. The founder director of this academy dedicated to the leadership of Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan, some researchers carried out continuous experiments with rural people and developed some model programs for rural development in this country. In the early sixties, the problems that were prevalent in rural areas were identified. The priorities of these programs are:

1. Creating a sustainable organization in the village,

2. Creating personal and collective capital,

3. Infrastructure development,

4. Expansion of advanced agricultural technology,

5. Expansion of social development activities including health, education, family planning, women's education,

6. Creating an organized village society with the help of people from all levels of the village,

7. Employment for landless laborers in non-agricultural sector,

8. Establish effective communication with the village and the outside world and

9. Innovation is an effective way to reach government service villages.

In order to effectively implement these six priorities, the Academy took initiative in the sixties.

BARD is an autonomous organization under the Department of Rural Development and Cooperatives of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. The Board is governed by a 21-member Board of Directors whose Chairman is the Honorable Minister of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives. The director general serves as the chief executive of the academy, to which an additional director general and nine directors provide assistance. All the activities of the Academy are conducted through nine departments, with one director acting as the head. BARD gained fame at home and abroad for the “Cumilla Model” of rural development invented by the Academy. BARD received the “Shadhinata Padak” in the Year 1986 for his special contribution to rural development. The number of officers and employees of the BARD is 365.

The academy is known for implementing the Comilla Model in the 1960s, that has been internationally recognised as a model project for rural development in the developing countries.^[1]