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Leave local govt alone

Upazila chairmen, vice-chairmen ask govt after oath; say MP meddling to weaken local govt system

Wasim Bin Habib
Newly elected upazila chairmen and vice-chairmen yesterday asked the government to make laws in line with Local Government (Upazila Parishad) Ordinance 2008 for better functioning of the local bodies.
They also blasted the plans to have lawmakers as advisers to the upazila councils, and said the parishads would weaken If compelled to follow 'dictates from the MPs'.
If the government lets the ordinance promulgated by the immediate past caretaker government lose effect, and revives Upazila Parishad Act 1998 with a few amendments, it would serve a severe blow to the nation's aspiration for a strong local government system, they noted.
They were talking to The Daily Star after taking oath at the city's LGED auditorium at around 11:15am.
In a late development, thecabinet last night okayed a bill to amend Upazila
Parishad Act 1998. If the bill is passed, members of parliament will return as advisers to the upazila councils.
Earlier in the day, several chairmen and vice-chairmen of upazilas under Dhaka division said allowing anyone to meddle in the activities of the parishads would amount to striping the local government representatives of the mandate to ensure development at the grassroots level.
Gouripur upazila Chairman Ali Ahmed Khan Pathan Shelvi said. We want the ordinances on upazila parishad and local government commission to become laws so we can work independently."
He said the upazila parishads must be free from bureaucratic control in order to function effectively.
Besides, he added that the government should immediately delineate the duties of Ci rirmen and vice-chairmen.
Khairul Kabir Khokon, a chairman from Netrakona district, said they have no problem with being advised by local lawmakers, but if that is made mandatory, development work would be hampered.
"With cooperation and suggestions from the lawmakers, we want to serve the people who haveelectedus.'hesaid.
'But there might arise a conflict if the MPs are allowed to have control over the local representatives," he added.
Abdul Bari Mandal, chairman of Islampur upazila in Jamalpur, said in the interests of an effective local government system, upazila parishads must have teeth. They must be free of political influence and immune to vested interests.
Many vice-chairmen said they are not sure about their role and relations with the
chairmen as they have yet to receive any directives from the government. They said they don’t know what would become of them when there is talk of curtailing powers of the chairmen.
"We are still in the dark about our scope of work since the government has yet to publish gazettes defining our duties," Fatema Monir, vice-chairman of Narayanganj sadar upazila, told The Daily Star.
"We want to work for rural development and meet the pledges we made before the election. And to do so we need independent, strong and effective upazila parishads," she said.
Badiuzzaman Badsha, chairman of Nalitabari upazila in Sherpur, said they did not expect this government to take over a month just to arrange the oath-taking.
He said if personal or partisan interests do not get in the way, and everyone stays focused on welfare of the people, there should not be any conflict between upazila offi cials and the local lawmakers.
A total of 330 chairmen and vice-chairmen from 121 upazilas took oath from Dhaka Divisional Commissioner Khandakar Shawkat Hossain yesterday.