Editorial
Operational guideline for upazila parishad
Elected vice-chairman's role seems undefined
WITH the Upazila Parishad Act giving the local MPs supervisory authority over elected chairmen a portent for conflict between two sets of elected public representatives has been built into the system. Local self-government experts and civil society leaders have already voiced their concern over the resulting weakening of the elected upazila parishad originally envisaged to be a vitally important tier of local self-government system.
On top this, we now have the freshly announced operational guideline for the upazila parishads which, for all practical purposes, goes to disempower the elected vice-chairmen. As per rules, upazila chairmen can delegate their responsibilities, both financial and administrative, to Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNOs), but in the event that the upazila vice-chairman becomes an acting chairman, he/she cannot exercise financial authority except by approval from 'specified authorities'. Inexplicably though, where the vice-chairman would seek the approval from remains unspecified.
The upazila parishad is constituted by a chairman and two vice-chairmen, one of whom is a woman. The reason why we have 480 women as vice-chairmen is because the authors of the act wanted to empower women through the upazila parishad. The perception of tremendous potential of elected women leaders in a vital local government tier for raising the socio-economic status of disadvantaged women in their constituencies must have worked behind adopting such a concept of empowerment. Unfortunately, this seems belied now.
What is noticeable is that the duties and functions of the vice-chairmen have not been clearly spelt out. All that has seemingly been done is to define their role in terms of limitations being placed on them while working during the temporary absence of the upazila chairmen. They seem to be left with 'mediating disputes in the villages' (at other times), as one of the frustrated vice-chairmen quipped.
It defies understanding as to why in formulating the guideline those who have to follow them have not been consulted. All we would suggest now is to keep an open mind on the new rules and put them on test and when the rules of business will have been finalised, to reform them in light of experience gathered, keeping the goal of realising the full potential of elected upazila parishads uppermost in our mind.
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