Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Chief Executives of the Districts - President's Ministers (similar to Premier / Governor)

Zilla level elected chief exucutives should be differentiated from those of Upzilla Level. A better title for these locally elected officials are Governors, who will be bestowed the President's authority within the district. This elected official will be the "President's Minister of the District".
 
An effective local government is very important to ensure the plight of the millions of people in rural Bangladesh be fullfilled in a participatory manner. In order to achieve that the current government is currently proceeding in the right direction - by first holding the Upzilla election. Also, there will be Union level, municipility level elections. The hightest level of the local goverment is the Zilla Porishod.
 
Now, what should we call the chief exucutive of the Zilla Porishod? These positions should be designated as President's Minister for "District Name" (e.g. President's Minister for Faridpur or President's Minister for Dinajpur) with job descriptions that a governor of a US state or the premier of a Canadian or Australian province/state.
 
We could go on describing more details, however, this can be sorted out if we decide on principle to call the chairman of a Zilla Porishod with a different name. It is important to distinguish these important offices of local government which would be the highest post in the local level. These offices should be given the few responsibilities such as primary education, high-schools upto grade 12, sanitation, rural roads, etc.