UP chairmen unite to remove UNO
Boycott Birganj upazila meetings as UNO Hasan Maruf files report against them
Chairmen of all the 11 union parishads (UP) under Birganj upazila of Dinajpur district yesterday started boycotting meetings of Upazila Parishad demanding removal of Birganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Hasan Maruf.
The 11 UP chairmen also held a press conference at Dinajpur Press Club where they brought charges of 'bribery and misbehaviour' against the UNO. However, no specific incident of bribery was mentioned.
Sources, on the other hand, said that the UP chairmen got angry as the UNO, following his recent visit to the union information centres (UIC), reported to Dinajpur deputy commissioner about the chairmen's failure to make the UICs functional.
At the press conference yesterday, Md Badiuzzaman, chairman of Bhognagar UP, read out a written statement signed by 11 UP chairmen of the upazila.
"We earlier brought the allegation of bribery and misbehaviour to the notice of local lawmaker Monoranjan Shil Gopal and Dinajpur deputy commissioner. The lawmaker sought seven days for removing the UNO. The period is over but the commitment is yet to be met," goes the written statement.
Following a letter issued by Dinajpur deputy commissioner on January 23, UNO Hasan Maruf recently inspected the UICs in the upazila.
On November 7 last year, all the 11 UPs in Birganj except for Shibrampur received Tk 1 lakh each for setting up an information centre equipped with a computer, a GP internet modem, a printer, a webcam, a scanner, a digital camera, necessary books, and furniture including a white board and signboard.
But during the inspection, the UNO found that the information centres were under-equipped and hardly provided any services. They lacked skilled operators. Even there was no signboard at nine centres. One centre was without any computer, sources said.
As the UNO wrote to Dinajpur deputy commissioner, describing the actual situation of the centres, the UP chairmen got angry, the sources added.
Visiting Bhognagar UP at 11:30 on Thursday, this correspondent found the UIC shut.
Talking to locals, it was found that very few people know about the union information centres.
When contacted, UNO Hasan Maruf said, "ICT centre at union level was officially launched on November 11 last year, but the chairmen of Birganj upazila did not perform their duty to make the centres functional."
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