THE New LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said on Wednesday said the government was actively considering holding Zila Parishad (District Council) elections, the top tier in the local government system, now being run by government appointed administrators from local party leaders. The Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner of Kishoreganj recommended increasing the pay and perks of the Union Parishad Chairmen and members to speed up the activities of the lowest tier of the local government system.
The Awami League-led government in its previous term in December 2011 appointed party men as administrators to 61 Zila Parishads with a view to strengthening them, although the Constitution stipulated that they must be elected by the people. It is noticeable that during the DCs Conference few days back, former LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam who is now the Minister for Public Administration, besides holding the post of party secretary general said it was time to consider whether there was any need for keeping the Zila Parishad at all. Thus, the opinion of the incumbent LGRD Minister and former LGRD Minister and party general secretary clearly stands conflicting to each other. The most important point here is that the government is not quite sure of the usefulness of the Zila Parishad and we believe it must be sure of keeping the Zila Parishad before planning to hold election at that level.
The apparent premise is that if Zila Parishad is not much useful, why the government must spent more money for it. Noticeably, the Zila Parishad is not playing any effective role at local level if their chairmen want to exercise real powers, it may often become conflicting with the Deputy Commissioners of the district. The fact is that the government is trying to put elected Zila Parishad Chairman, albeit claiming the constitutional stipulation, mainly for political reasons to accommodate party men to local institutions so that they remain faithful to the party leadership. It is not much bothered whether the election to Zila Parishad and making them functional would bring any benefit to the people or the higher budgetary allocation at the cost of tax-payers’ money would only go for more financial corruption.
The views expressed by the two senior ministers on Zila Parishad in fact demands more debate within the ruling party and also at the national level on the usefulness of Zila Parishad from the real development perspective. Many hold the view that the chairman of the Zila Parishad in fact has no clearly defined function or not given such function, except working as party men holding the post.
Moreover, when the elections are not safe and being rigged every time without allowing people to elect the leaders of their choice, such elections are bound to bring more embarrassment — nationally and internationally. It is advisable that the government policy makers must think about it more deeply and rationally before going for Zila Parishad polls.
The Awami League-led government in its previous term in December 2011 appointed party men as administrators to 61 Zila Parishads with a view to strengthening them, although the Constitution stipulated that they must be elected by the people. It is noticeable that during the DCs Conference few days back, former LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam who is now the Minister for Public Administration, besides holding the post of party secretary general said it was time to consider whether there was any need for keeping the Zila Parishad at all. Thus, the opinion of the incumbent LGRD Minister and former LGRD Minister and party general secretary clearly stands conflicting to each other. The most important point here is that the government is not quite sure of the usefulness of the Zila Parishad and we believe it must be sure of keeping the Zila Parishad before planning to hold election at that level.
The apparent premise is that if Zila Parishad is not much useful, why the government must spent more money for it. Noticeably, the Zila Parishad is not playing any effective role at local level if their chairmen want to exercise real powers, it may often become conflicting with the Deputy Commissioners of the district. The fact is that the government is trying to put elected Zila Parishad Chairman, albeit claiming the constitutional stipulation, mainly for political reasons to accommodate party men to local institutions so that they remain faithful to the party leadership. It is not much bothered whether the election to Zila Parishad and making them functional would bring any benefit to the people or the higher budgetary allocation at the cost of tax-payers’ money would only go for more financial corruption.
The views expressed by the two senior ministers on Zila Parishad in fact demands more debate within the ruling party and also at the national level on the usefulness of Zila Parishad from the real development perspective. Many hold the view that the chairman of the Zila Parishad in fact has no clearly defined function or not given such function, except working as party men holding the post.
Moreover, when the elections are not safe and being rigged every time without allowing people to elect the leaders of their choice, such elections are bound to bring more embarrassment — nationally and internationally. It is advisable that the government policy makers must think about it more deeply and rationally before going for Zila Parishad polls.
