UNB, Dhaka :
Chairman of the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad on Thursday said the so-called civil society members actually speak to gain their own interest, rather than for people.
“They (civil society) actually speak for their own interest, not for people. The reality is that the civil society in the country has been formed with those who are not entitled to be there,” he told a programme.
Qazi Kholiquzzaman was addressing the launching of a media manual on climate change financing, organised by Campaign for Sustainable Development and Livelihood (CSRL) at the Jatiya Press Club.
The manual was prepared with assistance from the European Union (EU) and Oxfam.
Kholiquzzaman noted that the civil society is actually expected to be formed by the representatives from the grassroots level, not from the top.
The fact that the civil society in the country formed from the centre implies that when their discourse on the rural community lacks practicality, he said. “When they talk about the village, they talk from a distance,” he said. The noted economist stressed that it is the capacity of the people which needs to be scaled up to ensure a sustainable development in the country.
