AL govt again pledges to bolster local govt
The Awami League-led government made fresh promises yesterday to strengthen local government, despite its indifference to its electoral pledge on the issue since 2009.
The AL had promised to strengthen union parishads, upazila parishads and zilla parishads through decentralisation of power. However, after three and a half years of neglect, the reality remains bleak for the local government bodies.
"Local governments will be made self-reliant and autonomous," said AL election manifesto that contributed greatly to its landslide victory in the 2008 parliamentary polls.
During budget speech, the finance minister acknowledged that the government could not make much headway towards the issue but promised to decentralise power and build a self-contained administrative arrangement for local government.
"Massive administrative reforms are required for future delegation of power," the minister said.
"I hope we will be able to present an outline on this issue before the end of our tenure, as assured by the prime minister," he added.
Like his previous budget speech, the finance minister laid stress on empowerment of local government for increased efficiency in the execution of developmental programmes which involve the community at large.
He proposed an allocation of Tk 1,015.36 crore for union parishads, development and non-development budget combined, Tk 436.60 crore for upazila parishads and Tk 350.70 crore for zilla parishads.
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