Dhaka Bureau: Provisions are being made to appoint administrators in Union Parishads like city corporations, municipalities, and Zilla Parishads. For this purpose, the ‘Local Government (Union Council) (Amendment) Bill-2024’ has been taken up in the National Parliament to bring necessary amendments to the law.
On Sunday (May 5), Local Government Minister Tajul Islam raised the bill in Parliament. Later, the bill was sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Cooperatives to be examined and reported to Parliament within seven days.
Opposition Chief Whip and Independent Member of Parliament Abdul Latif Siddiqui opposed the introduction of the bill. Complaining that this amendment is being brought against the idea of democracy, Abdul Latif Siddiqui said that not only has the concept of local government been destroyed, but we have never allowed the local government system to be implemented. Nationally, we are yet to complete the democratic vision. That’s why wherever we see a crisis, we see appointing administrators.
According to the bill, after the declaration of union of an area or the expiration of the term of the council, the government shall appoint a competent officer or a competent person as the administrator to perform the functions, and until the elected council is constituted, the administrator shall perform all the duties of the union council. But the administrator will be appointed for one time only and cannot hold office for more than 120 days. If it is not possible to form the elected council due to any natural calamity, the government can extend this period for another 60 days. In special cases of epidemics, epidemics, etc., the government can extend this period up to a reasonable time.
According to the bill, if a chairman or a member in charge of the chairman or an administrator fails to hand over the responsibility within a specified time in the prescribed manner, then a fine of 50 thousand rupees will be imposed. Under the existing law, the fine is currently Rs. 10,000.
Apart from this, the post of Union Parishad Secretary will be called Union Parishad Administrative Officer.
