The New Nation - Internet Edition

Our Correspondent, Barisal

Participants of a two-day training workshop concluded recently stressed on more empowerment with sufficient budget allocations for union council (UC)--the lowest tier of the local government--for sustainable democratic national government'. They said that UC as responsible for ensuring 10 basic rights and 38 supplementary rights of people.

It is very difficult for the local government body to meet the target without adequate manpower and sufficient resources to play their due role in development activities, they added. The Mass-line Media Centre on Advocacy for Right to Information organised the programme with the assistance from the United States Agency for International Development under promoting governance, accountability, transparency and integrity project at Barisal BDS auditorium.

Twenty grass root level journalists from six districts of Barisal took part in the programme ended on Friday afternoon. The programme, featuring audio-video presentation with panel and group discussion, was conducted by Shameem Reza, a mass communication and journalism department teacher of Dhaka University, Mahmuda Akhter, Khairul Alam Mukul, Khaleda Aktar Laboni, as PROGATI programme officials, Anisur Rahman Swapan, journalist, Mir Maniruzzaman, district MMC Coordinator attended the training workshop as facilitator.

The training aimed at increasing capabilities of the grass root level journalists to use RTI act in reporting about Union Parishad budget and activities. The participants stressed the need for empowering the union councils to help them properly contribute to development in their respective areas by keeping them free from any interference of bureaucracy.

The government had gradually demeaned the power of the union councils and had empowered the deputy commissioners, UNO in allocating and approving UC budget, they argued.

In this situation, proper use of right to information act, the grass root level journalist can play the role of watch dog and monitor affecting accountability and transparency of the UP as well as reforming bureaucracy to make the union councils effective and free from interference of the bureaucracy, they said. They suggested that necessary budget should be allocated to the UCs to empower them in making development plans of their own.