Editorial
Letting UZ parishad work to potential
No spanner on its wheel, please!
The government is all but decided to reintroduce the UZ Parishad Act 1998, albeit with certain amendments, in place of the Local Government (Upazilla Parishad) Ordinance 2008, promulgated by the erstwhile caretaker government. And in this matter we share some of the concerns expressed by the vast majority of the recently sworn in chairmen and vice-chairmen of UZ parishads.
The 1998 Act accords an advisory role to the MPs of the respective areas although, reportedly, the latest version of the 1998 as amended, doesn't make it mandatory upon the parishads to go by the advice of the MP. This is a very good step, for which we commend the government.
But given the MPs' proximity to power at the centre as well as the territorial levels, it would perhaps take more than a 'non-binding' nature of their advice to ensure that they do not end up meddling in the upazila affairs as far as development projects at the grassroots are concerned. The question is: who is going to oversee how the MPs play out their roles and how the upazila chairmen are holding out their own. In terms of the UZ Parishad Act 1998 whereby the MPs assumed an advisory role vis-à-vis upazila parishads, there were instances of conflictive relations between the MPs and the upazila chairmen.
While implementing the amended act, therefore, it is incumbent upon the government to make sure that the working relations between the two categories of elected public representatives develop in such a manner that both the institutions -- parliament and UZ system -- are not weakened in any way.
The role and function of the parliament members is very clearly defined in the country's Constitution which is to legislate. We understand that the MPs, being elected representatives, must also assist in solving various problems of their constituencies and the only forum for that is the floor of the House. Their getting intensely involved in development works in their constituencies will very likely detract them from their primary function while at the same time denying the upazila parishads their legitimate functions as the nub of all development and service delivery activities at the grassroots. The very concept of devolution of power is the quintessence of participatory democracy and governance.
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