Constitutional amendment for local government

http://dailyasianage.com/news/31053/constitutional-amendment-for--local-government 

Friday, September 16, 2016

Constitutional amendment for local government M S Siddiqui British rulers through the Local-Self Government Act 1885 introduced the local government (LG) at the district level. It had democratic character of the three-tier local government system -a District Board at each district, a Local Board at each sub-division and a Union Committee for a group of villages. The structure lost its democratic character with the imposition of martial law

by Ayub Khan in 1958, which suspended all local bodies. The Basic Democracies Order of 1959 not only changed the name of the District Board to District Council but also led to the appointment of the deputy commissioner as its ex-officio chairman in place of the elected chairman.

Banglabandhu incorporated provision in the Constitution for LG system. The clause 59 and 60 of part lll of constitution has provision of Local Government (LG). The Local Government in every administrative unit of the Republic shall be entrusted to bodies, composed of persons elected in accordance with law. The function of LG are : (1)Administration and the work of public officers; (2) the maintenance of public order; (3) the preparation and implementation of plans relating to public services and economic development. They have also given power to impose taxes for local purposes, to prepare their budgets and to maintain funds.

The successive governments and military rulers used its unfettered authority to modify laws and rules relating to local government. This practice hindered consistency in the form and functions of the local government and tried to use LG for consolidation of power base. An unique example is the Zila Porishad (ZP). Military ruler Ziaur Rahman promulgated a local government ordinance in 1976 which provided for a ZP in each district, to be comprised of elected representatives. But no elections were held. The DC continued to act as ex-officio chairman of the Parishad. Another military ruler, HM Ershad, things changed. His government enacted a Zila Parishad law in 1988 with provisions for MPs to serve as chairmen of the Parishads.

BNP-led government of 1991, removed the chairmen of the ZPs as they were MPs of Jatiya Party, and appointed DCs temporarily as ex-officio chairmen of the Parishads. The DCs continued to function as ex-officio chairmen until the Zila Parishad Act 2000 was passed by the AL-led government with provisions for holding polls to the Parishads.All the succeeding government has appointed administrators to Zila Parishads which is contrary to the constitution.

Section 82(1) of the law empowered the government for appointment of administrator for an

interim period to make the Zila Parishad functional until the parishad gets constituted according to the law. AL-led government in December 2011 has appointed political persons as administrators to run the ZPs. AL-led government has taken a giant leap backward, replicating the same practice of using the ZPs for narrow political purpose like BNP, despite their election commitment made before the 9th parliamentary election to strengthen of local governments.

Section 4 of the Act prescribes that the Chairman, 15 General Members and 5 Reserved Seated Women Members of a Zila Parishad would be elected by an Electoral College consisting of the concerned Upazila Chairmen, Municipal Mayors and Councilors and Union Parishad Chairmen and Members. This is contrary to the constitution since Article 11 of the Constitution provided as a FundamentalPrinciple of State Policy for effectiveparticipation by the people through their elected representatives in administration at all levelsshall be ensured.

The Supreme Court directed to the Govt. to establish the local government in all stages of administration within 3 months of the Judgment (1992) but the direction has yet not been implemented by any government. Though 14 years had elapsed since the Zila Parisad Act was passed in 2000 by AL but no election of Chairman yet held.Our neighbor India has incorporated the constitutional status of local government.

The 73rd Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 and the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, 1992 came into force in the year 1993. Some of the significant steps that were taken for the local government in India include regular elections, the fixed five-year term and the review and augmentation of the finances by the State Finance Commissions. Bangladesh made laws for each tier of local governments, more over the law has some undemocratic and unconstitutional provisions. According to the Zila Parishad Act, a district council should comprise a chairman, 15 regular members and five reserved women members. The elected representatives of the upazilas parishads, the city and municipal corporations, and the union parishads will vote to elect them.This provision in the law of nominated members are in consistence to constitution.

Unfortunately, all developmental activities in a district are coordinated by the deputy commissioner of the concerned district. The district administrator has practically no role in them.

The role of the administrator in the Zila Parishad Act 2000 is not clear on this point. According to a study of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), Chairman don't have any control and authority over the district administration led by a deputy commissioner in each district. Other officials in the district administration also do not care about the administrators, and they refrain from attending meetings convened by the administrators to review the development activities in the district. The Zila Parishad law should be amended to make the Parishad free from political influence and the local government officials of different departments under control of Parishad.

Although the ZP is an important local government institution, it could not be made effectively functional due to poor power structure and lack of elected representatives. The rigid control over the local government bodies by MPs and the government officials' unwillingness to ensure people's participation in power domains has made the Zila Parishads virtually dysfunctional.

All the local governments of India have to perform certain responsibilities, which are divided into two categories-obligatory functions and discretionary functions. Some of the obligatory

functions performed by the local governments are: (1)Registration of births and deaths, (2) Supply of pure drinking water, (3) Construction and maintenance of public streets, (4) Lighting and watering of public streets, (5) Cleaning of public streets, places and sewers, (6) Naming streets and numbering houses, (7) Establishment and maintenance of primary schools, (8) Maintenance or support of public hospitals. They have some of the discretionary functions, which are performed by the local governments in India, are: (1) Planting and maintenance of trees, (2) Housing for low income groups, (3) Construction and maintenance of public parks, gardens, libraries, museums, rest houses and other public buildings, (4) Securing or removal of dangerous buildings or places.

The local government bodies were more powerful during the British era, but it became weaker these days due to the central government's influence on them. The Zila Parishad has now become a dysfunctional institution due to rigid control of the central government and influence of local lawmakers.

The Bangladesh constitution did not mention different aspects of local government such as, the composition, structure, election/nomination, functions/responsibilities, financial power, sources of income, rules of procedure, control of local bodies, monitoring etc. Clear and specific constitutional directions like Indian constitution will restrain the rulers from frequently modifying local government system and give consistency in its functioning, which is especially important for institutionalization of the local self-government system.

Government is in process of amend the Zila Parishad Law but they should consider amending the constitution to incorporate the construction, election, authority and function of local government the LG really effective. LG should be free from frequent change of law in any tier of local government. Sk Hasina can consolidate her position in the history with an effective constitutional amendment for a democratic and effective local government.

The writer is a Legal Economist