24 directives to DCs

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday directed the deputy commissioners to ensure good governance at the grassroots level, check food adulteration and price hike of essentials.
She asked them to strictly prevent any attempts at hiking the prices of essentials through creating an artificial crisis of goods during Ramadan. She alerted the DCs about establishing peace, discipline and stability across the country by stamping out militancy, terrorism and communalism.
The PM was speaking at the opening ceremony of the three-day conference of DCs at the Prime Minister's Office.
At a closed-door meeting with the PM, the DCs reiterated their demand for empowering them to conduct summary trials, the power they had enjoyed before the separation of the judiciary from the executive in November 2007.
Reading out 24 directives, Hasina asked them to ensure proper and timely implementation of central decisions at the field level and perform their duties through rising above any fear, favour and temptation.
She asked them to be cautious to make sure that people are not harassed and deprived of government services.
The premier asked the district administrative chiefs to check social menaces like woman and child repression and trafficking, eve teasing, dowry and child marriage.
She called for taking steps to ensure public security, peace in mills and factories and root out extortion, tender manipulation, use of muscle power and terrorism in the districts.
The DCs must remain alert about increasing efficiency and transparency in land administration and management, and protecting public land, she mentioned.
She thanked the DCs for successfully holding the January 5 parliamentary polls despite various adversities.
The government, she noted, was going to frame the seventh five-year plan and sought suggestions from the DCs on problems and potentials in their respective areas.
The PM said her government had taken steps to build flats in every union to take civic amenities to the rural people.
She sought all out cooperation of the DCs to implement the proposed formalin control act to ensure safe foods and asked the cabinet secretary to send a guideline to them in this regard.

Speaking at the session, Rangamati DC Mostafa Kamal recommended introducing performance award for civil servants to encourage them to serve better.
Abdul Jalil, divisional commissioner of Khulna, requested the prime minister to take steps to promulgate the civil servant act to help the DCs discharge their duties.
The government's development projects would be executed faster if the DCs were given some responsibilities along with the elected representatives, observed Panchagarh DC M Salahuddin.
A DC suggested the government bring three separate land related offices under one umbrella and make land registration online to significantly ease public sufferings and expedite the registration process.
State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadeq and Cabinet Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan also spoke at the programme.
CLOSED-DOOR MEETING
Pointing to the same old allegation of non-cooperation by police, the DCs at the closed-door meeting with the PM demanded the government form a special police force under their jurisdiction to control law and order in the districts, said meeting sources.
The deputy commissioners said they wanted to conduct summary trials again as they cannot try anyone while operating mobile courts in districts without magistracy powers. The closed-door meeting was held after the inaugural session of the DC conference.
Those detained by mobile courts do not admit to committing crimes, and it leaves no alternative but to send them to court, which is a lengthy process, mentioned the DCs, adding that the offenders later come out of jail as innocent; and for this, the victims do not appreciate mobile court drives.
Gazipur DC Nurul Islam told the PM that police do not cooperate with them in controlling law and order. Even the law enforcers remain indifferent to executing many decisions made in the district law and order meeting, he noted.
Police, he pointed out, don't come on time to conduct mobile courts and the DCs can't probe any allegation as they don't have any force under their jurisdiction.
The DC of Cox's Bazar demanded special power to take action against NGOs funding militancy.
The PM said she would consider their demands on the basis of public interest.