On June 3, the LGRD ministry, under the initiative of the chief adviser, formed the seven-member committee on "Accelerating and Strengthening Local Government Institutions".

The committee has been asked to make recommendations reviewing the activities of the existing local government institutions to gear up administrative works of the institutions and enhance their financial power under the constitutional obligation.

Former secretary AMM Sawkat Ali is its chairman while Mizanur Rahman, joint secretary (development) of the Local Government Division, is member-secretary. The other members are Prof Syed Giasuddin Ahmed, Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar, Prof Dilara Chowdhury, Advocate Azmatullah Khan and Mir Enayet Hossian Mintu.

Their scope of work encompasses 17 areas designed through a government notification. Those include preparing recommendation for making time-befitting organisational structure and determining tiers of local-government institutions by reviewing the existing structures, manpower, responsibilities, powers, mutual relations and coordination among the local government institutions.

They are also working out source of income and strategy to increase the income, autonomy of local government institutions and their relations with the government, relation with local members of parliament, empowerment of women in local government institutions, setting criteria for qualifying and unqualified candidates for election, structural reforms to ensure accountability of the elected representatives, determining needs of 'Gram Sarker' to ensure effective participation of people, and account and management system of the institutions.

The chief adviser urged the committee members to make recommendation so that the government can do something "immediately", saying that the government will implement the doable recommendations.

"Local government would definitely be strengthened to establish good governance and the present government attaches priority to strengthening the local government," he said.

The committee will exchange views with all sections of people in preparing the recommendations for recasting local government to make the institutions more effective. They have already met some groups to get their opinions.

LGRD Adviser Anwarul Iqbal, Cabinet Secretary Ali Imam Majumdar, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim and LGRD Secretary Safar Raj Hossain were present.