Keep UPs out of politics to ensure development

They said that UP should be kept out of partisan politics to give the democracy an institutional shape and village-centric development.

Khan Foundation, a non-government organisation, arranged the workshop at its auditorium in the city.

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Speaking at the workshop as chief guest Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Director General of the NGO Affairs Bureau, said there should be a close cooperation between the government officials at upazila level and the UP chairmen to implement the projects properly.

" Due to lack of understanding among them many projects are not being implemented properly that causes financial loss to the government," Mizan said. Besides, many upazila level officers do not perform their duties regularly, he added.

Chairman of National Union Parishad Forum Golam Sarwar said that local government, especially the UP, was being neglected.

Sarwar said a UP chairman has to suffer a lot to receive fund from upazila office for any kind of development work.

"On one hand government is talking about strengthening the local government, but on the other the government is taking away powers from the UP chairmen," he said.

He said that bureaucracy was the main obstacle to the proper flourishing of the local government. Sarwar suggested that the local government should be free from partisan politics for its proper functioning.

Khorshed Alam, an engineer of Palash Upazila under Narshingdi, said there should not be any political interference in the UP activities.

Rokhsana Khandakar, executive director of the Khan Foundation, in her address of welcome said that without strengthening the local government it was not possible to engage the grassroots level people to development process.

"Every government considers the UPs as an instrument of power rather than a democratic institution," Rokhsana added.

" Party in power always thinks that it is easy to clinch the state power through establishing dominance over UPs," she said.

There should not be any partisan interference in the UP activities for the sake of development, she said.

The elected UP representatives and upazila level government officials attended the workshop.