National Parliament on Thursday passed the Local Government (Amendment) Bill, 2022, aiming to strictly follow the system of holding pourosova polls every five years.
Local Government Minister Tajul Islam placed the Bill in Parliament and it was passed with a voice vote. The bill will become law only after it gets a presidential assent.
And once the President signs the bill into law, all pouroshova chairmen will be barred from staying in office for more than five years.
The bill comes as a major blow to those who resort to different tactics to stay on as pourosova chairmen for years — some seek legal recourse at the end of their tenure to halt the holding of the next election. This way, few chairmen have stayed in office for more than five years, up to even 15 years.
Once the amendments come into effect, the Act will empower the government to appoint an administrator after the term of a local government body expires. And the administrator will be able to remain in the post for a maximum of six months and hold elections by that time.
The Bill also intends to change the designation of the pourosova member to pouro executive officer.
Furthermore, a clause in the Bill says that if any pourosova fails to pay the salaries and other wages of its officers and employees for 12 months, then the government may abolish its status.
As per the Bill, a pourosova can be established if the number of inhabitants every square kilometre is 2,000, from the earlier figure of 1,500.
Source: United News of Bangladesh