Elected but not given upazila role

The upazila parishads are being run by more than 100 committees led by Upazila Nirbahi Officers, bypassing the elected representatives, said chairmen and vice-chairmen from different UPs at a discussion in the capital yesterday.
Over 60 UP chairmen and vice-chairmen voiced their concerns at the discussion organised by the Bangladesh Upazila Parishad Association at the Cirdap auditorium.
They also said that the lawmakers, besides the UNOs, interfered in UP activities.
The elected public representatives expressed their grief explaining how the committees were formed by different ministries over the last four and a half years through issuing circulars disregarding UP laws. They also spoke about their bitter experiences in carrying out their jobs, for which they were elected in January 2009.
Bupa president Harun-Or-Rashid Hawlader said that over 90 percent of the committees -- such as agriculture, youth development, rural development, co-operative, and women & child affairs -- were headed by UNOs as chairmen to approve and execute different activities rendering the UP chairmen dysfunctional. “Although the law empowered them [UP chairmen] to run the local bodies, in fact the UNOs are running them with advice from MPs who interfere in the parishad activities causing UP chairmen to become dysfunctional.”
He also said that all financial and administrative powers were given to the UNOs through issuing circulars at different times by the ministries. “In fact, the UP chairmen have nothing left to do except to collect revenue and to organise annual development programmes with funds allotted by the government.”
Rashid, in this regard, gave an example of the situation by describing how the disaster management ministry had instructed a five-member committee headed by a UNO to carry out rehabilitation works in every affected Upazila in the south after cyclone Mahasen hit the country.
Bupa General Secretary Badiuzzaman Badsha said, “Although UP chairmen are elected by the people, no employees are accountable to the chairmen. Instead all UP employees follow instructions given by district officials.” The present parliament passed the law in 2009, but took away power from the UP chairmen. According to the law a UP chairman has to abide by the advice given by MPs, resulting in interference by the lawmakers in local development activities.