UNB, Dhaka :
The government has taken a Tk 1,118 crore project to enhance the capacity of 100 Upazila Parishads through training and transferring funds for development activities, aiming to provide better services to the common people.
The Local Government Division will implement the project titled ‘Local Governance and Development Project’ by June 2021, said a senior official at the Planning Commission wishing not to be named.
Of the total project cost, the official said, Tk 161.80 crore will come from the national exchequer while the rest of Tk 956.20 crore as project assistance.
The major objectives of the project include ensuring infrastructural development and improving the standards of services through local government institutions, increasing their transparency and accountability, improving the efficiency of all members working at field level through imparting various trainings for building an effective decentralised system.
According to the official, the project will gradually be expanded to all the upazilas of the country.
He said, although the proposed project is not included in the ‘green page’ of the ADP (Annual Development Programme) for the current fiscal year or in the reflected project list without allocation subject to the availability of fund, the Planning Minister has already given his consent for going forward with the project.
Another official at the Planning Commission said necessary development activities would be implemented in the selected upazilas under the project through providing them with additional funds.
Besides, there will be infrastructural development and renovation of rural roads, drainage system, education and health-related infrastructural development under the project.
The other activities of the project include procurement of educational equipment like chairs, tables, school buses, medical equipment like patient beds, inspection machines and ambulances, water supply equipment, digging new wells, replacing the old ones, constructing water reservoirs for harvesting rainwater and ensuring irrigation to facilitate agriculture and development of wholesale markets.
In the country’s local government system, there are three tiers- Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad. As works are underway to strengthen the local government institutions and decentralise the local governance system, this proposed project is being framed considering the Upazila Parishad as the center point of the local government to decentralize power and establish good governance, the Planning Ministry official said.
Once the project is implemented successfully, he said, it will be possible to properly select the local infrastructure development programmes and thus implement the ADP properly.
The official said a review meeting on the proposed project was held on September 20 last, when it was informed that there has been a significant progress in the drive to have project assistance.
The government has taken a Tk 1,118 crore project to enhance the capacity of 100 Upazila Parishads through training and transferring funds for development activities, aiming to provide better services to the common people.
The Local Government Division will implement the project titled ‘Local Governance and Development Project’ by June 2021, said a senior official at the Planning Commission wishing not to be named.
Of the total project cost, the official said, Tk 161.80 crore will come from the national exchequer while the rest of Tk 956.20 crore as project assistance.
The major objectives of the project include ensuring infrastructural development and improving the standards of services through local government institutions, increasing their transparency and accountability, improving the efficiency of all members working at field level through imparting various trainings for building an effective decentralised system.
According to the official, the project will gradually be expanded to all the upazilas of the country.
He said, although the proposed project is not included in the ‘green page’ of the ADP (Annual Development Programme) for the current fiscal year or in the reflected project list without allocation subject to the availability of fund, the Planning Minister has already given his consent for going forward with the project.
Another official at the Planning Commission said necessary development activities would be implemented in the selected upazilas under the project through providing them with additional funds.
Besides, there will be infrastructural development and renovation of rural roads, drainage system, education and health-related infrastructural development under the project.
The other activities of the project include procurement of educational equipment like chairs, tables, school buses, medical equipment like patient beds, inspection machines and ambulances, water supply equipment, digging new wells, replacing the old ones, constructing water reservoirs for harvesting rainwater and ensuring irrigation to facilitate agriculture and development of wholesale markets.
In the country’s local government system, there are three tiers- Zila Parishad, Upazila Parishad and Union Parishad. As works are underway to strengthen the local government institutions and decentralise the local governance system, this proposed project is being framed considering the Upazila Parishad as the center point of the local government to decentralize power and establish good governance, the Planning Ministry official said.
Once the project is implemented successfully, he said, it will be possible to properly select the local infrastructure development programmes and thus implement the ADP properly.
The official said a review meeting on the proposed project was held on September 20 last, when it was informed that there has been a significant progress in the drive to have project assistance.
