Editorial
Empowerment of local bodies
Implement these recommendations
The recommendations of the report on strengthening local government are a reflection of the needs of the times. They are so because much debate has gone on around the issue of a devolution of power from the national government to local authorities. There has been an acutely felt need for administration to be decentralised through a necessary and proper empowerment of local government institutions. The suggestions made in the report surely go a long way toward meeting such goals. Indeed, the reality is that democracy does not function very well, or runs into roadblocks, when political power is absent where it matters, in this instance the grassroots. That is one more way of saying that participatory democracy is ultimately dependent on how strong and effective local bodies are in a country.
The suggestions in the report include setting up a three-tier local institution in the form of zila, upazila and union parishads. The idea sounds feasible and should not be raising the kind of controversy that the Gram Sarkar system unfortunately managed to throw up. Happily enough, the Gram Sarkar idea has been jettisoned in the report. One other aspect of the report is its emphasis on reserving forty per cent of the seats in local bodies for women. Given the demands that have of late been made regarding an empowerment of women in the political arena, such a suggestion certainly makes sense. Clearly, the suggestions for local government reforms, for reforms they are, studiously push aside the role of local members of Parliament. We feel that the unhappy legacy which has so long been at work, with MPs running the show in nearly every part of social and political activity at the local level, has undermined the spirit of local institutions. The new methods being suggested should do away with that. MPs can only play an advisory role. At the same time, the success or otherwise of the local government system depends how the grip of the bureaucracy on local bodies is loosened. To date, the pretty justified perception has grown that the bureaucracy, in its narrow collective interest, has never felt any need to let local bodies function in autonomous manner. That must change now if democracy is really to percolate down to the very basic levels.
In the days ahead, it will be necessary to define clear parameters of power for local bodies. Such questions as their financial authority call for unambiguous answers. Local government bodies, for starters, could take charge of locally initiated projects to cater to local demands. Regarding ideas such as raising money for themselves, matters will depend on a gradual development of the system. A fundamental premise, for now, is for local bodies to ensure a beginning toward bottom-up socio-economic planning in the country.
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