Speakers for making UPs functional

Speakers at a roundtable in Dhaka on Tuesday urged the government to make upazila parishads (UP)  functional saying that holding only election to the local government units is not enough. They said local government bodies in Bangladesh did not get the real autonomy even after 43 years of the country’s independence, while the MPs have made the things even worse through their meddling in upazila parishads. Sushasaner Jonno Nagorik-Sujan (Citizen for Good Governance), a local NGO, arranged the roundtable discussion, titled ‘The 4th upazila elections and local government reform issue’ at Mukti Bhaban in the city’s Paltan area. Sujan secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, its executive member Ali Imam Majumder, politicians Ruhin Hossain Prince and Humayun Kabir Hiru and former chairman of Nalitabari upazila Badiuzzaman Badsha, among others, spoke at the programme, according to a news agency.