Local Government Engineering Department

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Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is an organ of Bangladesh government created for provision of transport infrastructures in rural areas and to provide technical support to the rural and the urban local government institutions (LGIs), planning and implementation of infrastructure development projects in the rural and urban areas to improve communication and transport network, employment generation and poverty reduction.

LGED took roots in the early sixties when implementation of Works Programme (WP) started to develop physical infrastructure for poor people. In the seventies, it grew into a cell of the Local Government Division (LGD) under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MLGRD&C). In 1982, it became an independent body named the Works Programme Wing (WPW) per recommendations of the Enam Committee^[clarify] to administer Works Programme nation-wide, and was renamed as the Local Government Engineering Bureau (LGEB) per a decision of NICAR^[clarify] in October, 1984. It was upgraded as LGED in August, 1992.

LGED implements three of the four components of the Comilla Model, a development programme designed at the Comilla Academy for Rural Development (renamed as Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development) in 1961. These are the Works Programme, the Upazila Irrigation Programme and construction of Upazila Training and Development Centre.

Headed by a Chief Engineer it employs, as of 2007, a total of 10,246 Engineers and other staff. It has district offices headed by an Executive Engineer and sub-district offices headed by an Upazila Engineer. Upazila Engineers play key role for transport, social and institutional infrastructure development. LGED implementats more than 60 development projects a year in Rural Development and Institutions, Physical Planning, agriculture, water resource and transport sectors.