Rural Development and Co-operatives Division
Profile
- Head
- Md. Mashiur Rahman, ndc
- Role
- Secretary
- Annual budget
- —
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 1972
- Legal basis
- Rules of Business of the Government of Bangladesh; Cooperative Societies Act, 2001 (as amended 2002, 2013); Cooperative Societies Ordinance, 1984; Cooperative Societies Rules, 2004.
RDCD is managing continuity of BRDB's two-tier cooperative network (5.3 million beneficiaries, 57 district and 476+ sub-district offices) and the Department of Cooperatives' registry of approximately 175,000 societies with 10 million+ members, while advancing an integrated digital service delivery platform for cooperative loan and registration services; no new standalone cooperative legislation or major RDCD-specific policy reform has been announced by the BNP government in the 90-day window.
Recent activity
- 2026-02-17 appointment Under the new BNP cabinet sworn in on February 17, 2026, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir (BNP Secretary General) became Minister and Mir Shahe Alam (Bogura-2 MP) State Minister for the parent Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, with oversight extending to RDCD. ↗↗↗
- 2026-04-01 policy Minister Fakhrul chaired an ADP implementation review for LGD-implemented projects up to February 2026, directing that no project should face unnecessary delays, all Development Project Proposals must include exit strategies and maintenance plans, and project directors should not be changed unless unavoidable; stressed employment generation and river protection as cross-cutting requirements. ↗↗
- 2026-04-15 other BRDB published a recruitment circular for 110 vacancies across 6 post categories, with online applications via brdb.teletalk.com.bd running April 15 to May 4, 2026; marks the first major BRDB staffing drive under the BNP government, signalling operational continuity of the rural cooperative network. ↗↗
- 2026-05-12 policy Under Minister Fakhrul's directive at the May 12 ADP review chaired at LGD, RDCD-supervised agencies including BRDB and PDBF were expected to accelerate FY2025-26 ADP project disbursement, ensuring cost-effective and people-friendly implementation with quality controls. ↗↗
Provenance & notes
verification_status is 'partial' because: (1) RDCD's FY2025-26 grant allocation (MoF Grant 35, Code 138) could not be extracted — the PDF at mof.portal.gov.bd timed out on all fetch attempts; the figure should be retrieved from 138_Rural_English.pdf when accessible. (2) The current Secretary's identity carries uncertainty: Wikipedia lists Md. Mashiur Rahman, ndc (reflecting the post-Feb 2026 BNP administration), while a January 2025 reference cited Mohamad Rezaul Ahasan — a confirmed pre-BNP appointment; head_since is left null because the exact date of Mashiur Rahman's appointment to this post is not confirmed from a primary source. (3) RDCD's total sanctioned staff count is not published. Supervised entities (confirmed from Wikipedia Ministry article): Department of Cooperatives (est. 1904; ~175,000 registered societies, 10 million+ members; Registrar and DG: Munima Hafiz; legal basis: Cooperative Societies Act 2001), BRDB (est. 1982; DG: Sarder Md Keramat Ali; 5.3 million beneficiaries; 57 district + 476+ upazila offices), Palli Daridro Bimochon Foundation (PDBF), Small Farmer Development Foundation (SFDF), Bangladesh Cooperative Bank, Milk Vita (Bangladesh Dairy Farmer Cooperative Union Ltd.), Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD, Cumilla), Rural Development Academy (RDA, Bogura), Bangabandhu Poverty Alleviation and Rural Development (BAPARD), Palli Sanchay Bank (est. July 2021; ~120,000 cooperative societies linked; ~5 million beneficiaries, majority women). One House One Farm (Ektee Bari Ektee Khamar) project, a flagship AL-era programme (2009, Tk 11 billion), has not been formally discontinued by the BNP government as of verification date but no expansion or new branding has been announced. RDCD's digital transformation (Integrated Service Delivery Platform covering 185 services at 4,816 offices of 10 RDCD organisations via a2i) predates the BNP government but continues operationally.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Development_and_Co-operatives_Division
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Local_Government,_Rural_Development_and_Co-operatives
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Rural_Development_Board
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Cooperatives
- https://rdcd.gov.bd/
- https://nedac.info/2022/02/23/rdcd-bangladesh/
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/361920
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/governance/news/who-gets-which-ministry-inside-bnps-cabinet-line-4108521
- https://www.bssnews.net/others/386389
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/373486
- https://banglamirrornews.com/2026/04/01/mirza-fakhrul-urges-major-shift-for-effective-timely-project-implementation/
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/410236/mirza-fakhrul-ensure-proper-use-of-public-money
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/410056/fakhrul-development-projects-must-be-completed
- https://bdgovtjobs.com/brdb-job-circular/
- https://mof.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/mof.portal.gov.bd/budget_mof/0a2573e6_116a_4b53_9511_34b98369066d/138_Rural_English.pdf
- https://mof.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/mof.portal.gov.bd/page/305f6854_9467_46a1_8788_203708d3c741/Social%20Security%20Programmes%202025-26,%20Updated.pdf
- https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/corporates/rdcd-signs-agreement-develop-integrated-digital-service-delivery-platform
- https://brdb.gov.bd/