'Policy reform needed for strong local govt'

They said the union parishads (UP) do not have role in delivering important social services like health, education and social welfare.

The seminar on 'Local Government Policy Reform' was organised by the Local Government Initiative with the support of USAID at a city hotel.

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Dr Mizanur Rahaman Shelly, chairman of the Centre for Development Research, Bangladesh (CDRB), moderated.

The findings of the National Survey of Public Opinion on Local Government were presented at the seminar.

The survey was based on a sample of 3,000 households of the six divisions.

One of the major findings was that UP chairs and members were involved in partisan politics.

About half of women respondents said the representation of women at UP was not effective.

Representatives of different stakeholders of local government, including civil society members, politicians, civil servants, local government representatives, media personalities and NGOs were present at the seminar.

Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, Prof Amirul Islam Chowdhury,

Advocate Rahamat Ali, MP, Col (Retd) Shawkat Ali, MP, Mujibar Rahman Sarwar, chairman of Barisal City Corporation, Zahir Uddin Swapan, MP, Talea Rahman, executive director of Democracy Watch and Roksana Halder took part in the discussion.

Carol Horning, director, Democracy, Governance and Education Office of the USAID, also spoke at the seminar.