Ex-lawmakers for abolishing local govt ministry

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Former lawmakers urged the government to abolish the local government ministry and to amend the related laws to strengthen the local government organisations.
They made the appeal while speaking at a meeting organised by a committee on strengthening the local government bodies in the city Saturday, reports bdnews24.com.
Chairman of the organisation and former secretary AMM Shawkat Ali presided over the meeting where written and verbal proposals were taken from former lawmakers.
The lawmakers also observed that the local government ministry was the biggest impediment to strengthening local government bodies.
They said local government bodies could never be strengthened if a local government ministry existed and if the power to remove elected representatives was kept in the hands of the government.
To strengthen local government organisations, they suggest, the ministry must be abolished and the laws be amended. Besides, a commission has to be formed under the supervision of lawmakers to oversee the financial side of the local government bodies, they mentioned.
Former finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit, said the country now needs a three-tier local government system: the Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad.
At every tier, people's representatives have to be elected through direct election. Otherwise, the organisations could not be made effective, he observed.
"No matter whatever change to the local government system, if the ministry is there, no benefit will be available. The local government ministry has to be abolished. For this, a parliament-centred commission has to be formed. Instead of centralised police, the force may be formed at the district or the divisional level," Muhit mentioned.
The former minister recommends giving the Upazila Parishad the power to make budget for itself and the Union Parishad.
"The union parishads should be given more power so that they can solve small problems or disputes."
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President Hasanul Haq Inu, speaking in favour of a three-tier local government system, said: "It would remove the possibility of administrative complexities. However, before that, the power to remove elected representatives of the local government bodies through executive order would have to be cancelled.
"The spirit of the constitution was curbed by giving government the power to remove elected representatives. It created scope for intervention of the executive branch into local government organisations. If the ministry was not abolished, the local government division could not be made independent, strong and dynamic," he added.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon said that in the framework of a three-tier local government system, direct election would be held for the union parishads alone.
"The representatives of a union parishad would elect the representatives for the upazila and zila parishads. As a result, the lawmakers would not consider representatives of the two latter tiers their rivals."
Jatiya Party leader GM Quader recommended allocation of a part of the central development budget to the local government bodies. He proposed leaving to the local government bodies sources of different incomes at the local level for making and implementing their own work plans.
Former Awami League lawmaker Pramod Mankin said that as the lawmakers were elected after different pledges to people, it would not be possible to stop them from involvement in the local government activities.
"The government could, as in the neighbouring country, give annual lump-sum allocations to lawmakers. As a result, they would not have to intervene in the work of local government bodies."
Former BNP lawmaker Golam Mohammad Siraj (GM Siraj) demanded cancellation of reserved seats for women.
"While we are talking about women's empowerment, we are blocking it by keeping reserved seats for women. If the system is scrapped opportunity would be created for participation of more women in direct election," he mentioned.