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Suggestions of experts, UZ chairmen ignored

Ram bHasnet Suman
Ignoring experts' advice and the demand of newly-elected chairmen and vice-chairmen of upazila parishads, the House yesterday passed the Upazila Parishad Bill, 2009, giving local legislators power over upazila parishads.
Experts said the bill passed in the House establishes legislators' supremacy over the local government body, turns the upazila parishads into ineffective bodies, and makes the parishads’ future uncertain.
A delegation of upazila chairmen, led by Harun-or-Rashid Hawlader, met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office yesterday afternoon and urged her to drop four provisions from the bill, proposed by the standing committee on local government ministry.
The provisions are: local MP's advice must be followed by the upazila parishad concerned, the parishad has to consult the local MP before it approaches the government for any development work, the parishad must send meet ing minutes within 14 days of holding a meeting to the MP concerned, and upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) will act as the chief executive of the parishads.
The parliament however dropped only the last one. The UNO will now act as secretary to the upazila parishad as per the demand of the upazila parishad representatives.
The newly-elected chairmen and vice-chairmen expressed resentment over empowering MPs in the upazila parishad. They were however happy that at least the upazila parishad as well as its representatives are getting legitimacy.
Harun-or-Rashid Hawlader, coordinator of the upazila chairman association, told The Daily Star last night, "Finally we got legitimacy. Now I hope the government will ensure coordination between MPs and members of the upazila parishads through gazette notification."
A number of chairmen and vice-chairmen, however, said the provisions would ensure supremacy of lawmakers over representatives of upazila parishad and instigate conflict between upazila parishads and lawmakers, which will ultimately hamper development activities.
Some other chairmen In J experts hinted that they would go for legal action against a number of provisions of the new law. They would however wait for the gazette notification to see what functions and powers the elected upazila parishad representatives have.
ProfTofael Ahmed, former member of the now-defunct local government commission, said, "The parliament can pass any bill but the government should be flexible so that necessary steps can be taken when problems arise in the function of upazila parishad under the new law.”
Terming the bill unfortunate, Badiul Alam Majumder of Shushashoner Jonney Nagorik (Sujan) said, "It will render the local government body ineffective. It will even be unable to protect public interest."
He also said the parliament will also be less effective as lawmakers will be busy monitoring the functions and activities of upazila parishads.
While talking to The Daily Star last night, Gazi Abdul Hadi, chairman of Dumuria Upazila Parishad of Khulna, said, "Strong local government was Awami League's electoral pledge and it is unfortunate that it made a decision that goes against its electoral manifesto."
Humayun Islam Kamal, vice-chairman of Golapganj Upazila Parishad of Sylhet, said the local government body would be weak if the MPs exercise their power.