Strong local govt bodies needed for good governance: CA

---

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed Tuesday underscored the need for strengthening the local government bodies to ensure good governance and give democracy an institutional shape, reports BSS.
"The local government institutions need to be strengthened... and without this good governance cannot be established," he said.
Fakhruddin Ahmed said this when the "Committee for Strengthening and Accelera-ting the Local Government Institutions" made a presentation on its activities to him here this afternoon.
The seven-member committee with AMM Shawkat Ali as its chairman was formed on June 03 last under the initiative of the Chief Adviser on how to make local government institutions more effective and functional to fulfill the demands of the people as well as constitutional obligations.
The committee has already started working for attaining its objectives in wider areas like formation of time-befitting structure for local government bodies, ensuring fund flow, manpower structure and capacity building, formulating election modalities and ensuring women empowerment and accountability in all local government institutions.
It will put forward its recommendations to the government within the next three months after the formation of the committee.
The committee has already started talks with all stakeholders across the country, including the representatives of local government bodies, for making recommendations.
After the presentation, the Chief Adviser asked the committee to submit its recommendations within the stipulated time on a priority basis.
Fakhruddin said the government will take further initiatives to strengthen the local government bodies on the basis of the recommendations as the government sees it as a priority area.
Referring to the election roadmap announced by the Election Commission, he said formation of the local government through peaceful and credible elections has been given priority in the roadmap.
The chairman of the committee informed the Chief Adviser that they had already started exchanging views with all stakeholders, including representatives of pourasabhas, union parishads, NGOs and journalists, on how to strengthen the local government bodies and infuse dynamism into its activities.
LGRD and Cooperatives Adviser Md Anwarul Iqbal attended the function. Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumder, LGRD Secretary Safarraj Hossain and Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser Syed Fahim Munaim, among others, were also present on the occasion.