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Govt to form Gram

Sarkar on Aug 2 despite HC rule

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Despite a High Court showcause on formation of Gram Sarkar, the government will go ahead with its plan of forming units of the local government body from August 2.
Some 40,392 Gram Sarkar units will be formed in 45 days beginning August 2. One Gram Sarkar unit will be constituted in each of 40,392 wards under 4,488 Union Parishads (UPs).
The President assented to the Gram Sarkar Act on February 27
after it was passed by parliament. On June 6, eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain filed a writ petition challenging the legality of Gram Sarkar.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said the ministry has completed training of some 7,000 trainers, who are government officials at the upazila level, to familiarise them with different aspects of Gram
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Sarkar, an auxiliary body to the Union Parishad.
"And now the trainers are giving training to the elected UP chairmen, members and UP secretaries. The training of the elected representatives would be complete by the end of this month," the minister said.
When asked about the High Court showcause notice, the minister said, "The High Court did not issue a stay order on formation of Gram Sarkar, so there is no legal bar to formation of Gram Sarkar units. The High Court served the showcause notice and the government has given its reply."
He said the government has decided to reintroduce Gram Sarkar to ensure direct participation of rural people in the development process, which is the basic spirit of the local government in a democratic society.
"Gram Sarkar is meant to bridge rural development with mainstream development as an auxiliary body at the grassroots level…it is not an administrative unit. We believe that the Gram Sarkar will help expedite the development process and rural people will be
able to express their opinions and identify their needs through this body," Bhuiyan observed.
Late president Ziaur Rahman first introduced Gram Sarkar and started formation of its units, but he could not complete the process. Later, former president Ershad also introduced a similar body named "Palli Parishad". The previous Awami League government passed the Gram Parishad Act in 1997, but did not introduce it.
Bhuiyan said the Gram Sarkar law was enacted in the light of the abolished Swanirbhar Gram Sarkar Provision of 1980, the Gram Parishad Act of 1997 and the recommendations of a local government commission formed in 1992.
He said Gram Sarkar would assist the UP by implementing various development and social projects, like growing more food, reducing illiteracy and spreading education, arranging sports and cultural functions, facilitating family planning and ensuring supply of safe drinking water and sanitation.
Besides, he said it will ensure primary health care, gather birth, death, marriage and divorce-related information and assist the
Union Parishad in tree plantation, preservation of environment and cleanliness, formation of cooperatives and augmenting pisciculture, poultry farming and so on.
Bhuiyan said the government has already brought some reforms in the local government and would soon bring major reforms to strengthen it. He said to strengthen the UP, the government has fixed the bachelor's degree as the minimum educational qualification of a UP secretary and the job has been made transferable.
As per the Gram Sarkar Act, the body will have a five-year tenure. Each ward of a Union Parishad will be a unit of Gram Sarkar. The elected UP members of their respective ward will be chiefs of Gram Sarkar. One female elected UP member will be adviser to three Gram Sarkar units.
The 15-member body will have Gram Sarkar Prodhan (chief) and an adviser and the remaining 13 members will be drawn from representatives of women, farmers, VDP men, workers, farm workers, freedom fighters, teachers and businessmen.