They said the local governments formed by elected representatives at all levels should be brought under strong monitoring and made free from the influence of lawmakers and central government officials.

The roundtable on 'Measures needed to strengthen and activate local government' was organised by Shushashoner Janney Nagorik (Shujan) at Cirdap auditorium in the city in a bid to make a concrete proposal to put forward to the government for reforms in the local government.

"We want to make our future bright by learning from the mistakes of the past," said Shujan President Prof Muzaffer Ahmad referring to corruptions by many politicians both at national and local levels.

All should try to think how honest and competent people could be involved in political process, he said lauding the formation of a commission in the local government ministry and urging the present government to initiate effective reforms in this regard.

Prof Ahmad, who presided over the roundtable, said national planning should be framed on the basis of the recommendations made at the local government level.

The draft proposal prepared by Shujan Secretariat recommended that the local government should be formed at union, upazila and district levels by the elected representatives.

The government officials will work under the local government councils, it noted.

Every council should have clear responsibilities so that one does not clash with others, while there will be standing committees in the local government institutions to look after more important issues, it proposed.

There should be a finance commission to recommend to the government on making a formula for distribution of funds to the local government based on the needs and fund collected by them, said the draft proposal presented by Shujan Central Coordinator Dilip Kumar Sarkar.

"The local government will not control the central government, but facilitate it," Dilip said, adding that it can suspend any elected representative only on the recommendation of the local government ombudsman.

The local government should hold council meetings mandatorily after every three months through which the elected representatives will be made accountable, he read from the draft proposal.

Economist Dr Atiur Rahman suggested formation of an ombudsman to hold the local government accountable and a finance commission to decide budgetary allocation and specify the role of the government officials at the local level.

The conflicts, if there are, among the upazila parishad, union parishad and municipality should also be looked into, he added.

Taking part in the discussion, Justice Ebadul Haque suggested selection of judges to work at village court.

Awami League (AL) leader Advocate Rahmat Ali said the local government's role is very important in formulating policies, especially in collecting data on the resources and problems at grassroots levels.

AL leader Dr Abdur Razzak said the process of giving more power to bureaucracy instead of empowering the local government would not bring good results.

Col (retd) Shawkat Ali suggested elections at all tiers of local government simultaneously to save money and check frauds.

The first duty of the lawmakers is to formulate laws, national policies and monitor the executives, he said, adding that they should also monitor whether national policies are reflected in their own constituencies.

Shujan Secretary Dr Badiul Alam Majumder, Dr Zafarullah Chowdhury of Ganashasthya Kendra, Columnist Syed Abul Maksud, Taleya Rehman of DemocracyWatch, Aroma Dutta of Prip Trust, former lawmaker Golam Sarwar Milon, former upazila chairmen Ahmad Bashir, Bijoy Kumar Barua, Suvash Singha and UP chairmen Khorshed Alam, Matiur Rahman Tapan, Ataharul Islam Bulbul and Hasan Rakib Azad also spoke on the occasion.