Gram Sarkar goes ahead

The government begins formation of Gram Sarkar units today that coincides with a High Court hearing of a writ challenging the legality of the act providing for their constitution.

"We have completed all preparations for the formation of the local government bodies as scheduled," said Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan.

He said the High Court did not issue a stay order on the installation of Gram Sarkar, the lowest local government tier, and there was no legal bar to moving ahead with the schedule.

"The High Court served a showcause notice and the government has given its reply," he explained.

Eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain filed the writ challenging legality of the Gram Sarkar Act, 2003 in favour of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) on July 6.

The High Court asked the government to explain why the act should not be declared illegal and beyond the constitution.

The court bench comprising Justice Amirul Kabir Chowdhury and Justice AFM Ali Asgar in a brief hearing of another petition seeking stay on the formation, turned down the plea on Wednesday, but fixed the date for hearing the writ today.

The government is now ready to form 40,392 Gram Sarkar units in as many wards under 4,488 Union Parishads (UP) in the next 45 days from today.

The president assented to the Gram Sarkar Act on February 27 after its passage in the Jatiya Sangsad.

The local government ministry has already trained 7,000 people, all government officials at the upazila level, to familiarise them with different aspects of Gram Sarkar, an auxiliary body to the UP, Mannan Bhuiyan told The Daily Star on Thursday.

The training of elected UP chairmen, members and UP secretaries has also been completed, he added.

Bhuiyan said the government decided to reintroduce Gram Sarkar to ensure direct participation of the rural people in development process.

"Gram Sarkar is meant to bridge rural development with mainstream development as an auxiliary body at the grassroots level...it is not an administrative unit," he said.

"We believe that the Gram Sarkar will help expedite the development process and the rural people will be able to express their opinions and identify their needs through this body."

The Gram Sarkar Act was passed in the light of the abolished Swanirbhar Gram Sarkar Provision of 1980, the Gram Parishad Act of 1997 and the recommendations of a local government commission formed in 1992.

Former president Ziaur Rahman initiated the formation of Swanirbhar Gram Sarkar in 1980.

The Gram Sarkar units will assist the UP by implementing various development and social projects, like growing more food, reducing illiteracy, arranging sports and cultural functions and facilitating family planning.

The units will also help the UPs ensure safe drinking water, sanitation, primary health care; plant trees, preserve the environment and cleanliness, form cooperatives and lend support to pisciculture and poultry farming.

The units will also gather information on birth, death, marriage and divorce.

The Gram Sarkar units will have a five-year tenure.

The elected UP member will head the unit in their respective ward. One female elected UP member will be adviser to three Gram Sarkar units.

The 15-member body will have Gram Sarkar prodhan (chief) and an adviser and the remaining 13 members will be drawn from representatives of women, farmers, VDP men, workers, farm workers, freedom fighters, teachers and businessmen.