A finance move is on to allocate Tk 1.0 billion for each of the largely dormant district councils in the budget for the next financial year (2015-16).
The proposition, however, is learnt to have met with strong disapproval from within the government quarters.
Those who stand opposed to the move argued such big sum of block allocation for the local-government (LG) body called Zila Parishad would mostly remain either unspent or misused for a lack of spending capacity and absence of accountability process.
Opponents also categorically say that the next budget should not provide such financing to the LG bodies as the custodians there are not elected representatives.
Many civil bureaucrats present at the planning meeting pointed out that the councils lack minimum level of manpower and administrative capacity to optimise the use of resources.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith shared his plan about this block allocation with senior government officials, including senior secretaries and secretaries at the top echelon of the administration.
Besides the admin high-ups, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan was also present at the meeting held last week.
Many of the officials argue that rather than allocating such a big amount in favour of the district councils a large part of it should be diverted towards the upazila and union councils.
Such fund diversion, they say, would benefit the rural people where opportunities of employment and decent living are limited.
However, administrators of the district councils have welcomed the government move, claiming that it would help improve the rural infrastructures-roads, bridges and schools.
MA Salam, administrator at Chittagong District Council, told the FE that they had demanded budgetary allocation for long.
The government had appointed 61 district administrators in December 2011.
District administrators said they get much less than the requirement. The average is Tk 50 million as per the annual development programme.
"In my district, there are 14 upazilas. People are coming to me every day demanding construction of roads, but, in many cases, we cannot do it," Mr Salam said.
However, he admitted that all the districts are not such big as Chittagong, and as such, demand for construction of roads is bigger.
On the other hand, an official, who was present at the meeting, told the FE that a number of government high officials were in favour of budget allocation depending on the population of each district.
"We've favoured the allocation as it will help the rural economy to get enlivened and this should be based on the population," an official told the FE.
Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of PPRC (Power and Participation Research Centre), said the government should think about the two more recognised local-government bodies-union and upazila parishads.
The think-tank chief said the two LG bodies have much more spaces for expanding activities aimed at people's welfare.
"In my view the district councils have limited scope of works," said Dr Rahman, who served as an adviser of the past caretaker government.
Contacted, the state minister for finance and planning, Mr Mannan, expressed his ignorance on the matter.
"I was only 20 minutes in the meeting," the state minister told the FE.
District Boards were introduced first during the British rule, and it changed in 1959 as District Council.
Immediately after independence, the then Awami League government dissolved all the existing local government bodies and appointed committees to administer those defunct bodies.
The deputy commissioner was made administrator of the district committee.
The three-tier local-government system-Zila Parishad, Thana Parishad and Union Parishad - was introduced in 1976.
In 1988, the then government enacted a law styled 'The Zila Parishad Act' providing for a government- appointed chairman for each district. In the year 2000, the Awami League-led government repealed the Zila Parishad Act 1988 and passed the current law with a provision for direct election to Zila Parishads.
In its 2008 election manifesto, the party pledged that the district council would be strengthened through decentralisation of power.
The government appointed 61 administrators for as many districts in December in 2011 to make functional the local district councils.
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