THE deputy commissioners鈥� seeking more powers, as they have already proposed during their annual conference in Dhaka, in discharging their responsibilities comes with concerns in a number of areas. The deputy commissioners, who also work as district magistrates, have sought to be further empowered regarding law enforcement, the judiciary, local government and public administration. This comes as a recurring event that the deputy commissioners, who belong to the middle echelon of the bureaucracy, have mostly always wanted more powers in their annual conference. The government may well consider the demand in cases where more powers are rational and required to effectively discharge their responsibilities. But a situation when their powers appear to be exceeding those of their seniors is not expected at all. And, the deputy commissioners should always be accountable to elected representatives. Anything antithetical to this proposition is completely unwarranted. The objective of the deputy commissioners鈥� conference is for the government to know the situation in grass roots and seek suggestions, but the conference has for long mostly been an occasion for the bureaucrats to push for their demands and more powers.
The deputy commissioners have sought the inclusion of a district administration representative in the committee on the appointment of police constables, the authority to send an annual assessment report on the police and the formation of a permanent prosecution unit and a 鈥榮pecial dedicated response team鈥� in each district. Whilst the first two propositions could create scopes for corruption, the third proposition appears illogical. The prosecution team proposal, which the deputy commissioners say would safeguard the government鈥檚 interests, could, in fact, turn out to be a handle to make the government more dependent on the field-level administration. The deputy commissioners also want the abolition of the obligation of taking permission from Local Government Division for projects that the district administration undertakes and an increase in the budget ceiling for projects that the deputy commissioners undertake from Tk 500,000 to Tk 2.5 million. The propositions could very well make way for corruption to creep in. They want the powers to recruit and transfer upazila council employees invested in the deputy commissioners. But, upazila nirbahi officers now head the recruitment committee and the upazila council chairs make the appointment. The deputy commissioners have, surprisingly, sought a code of conduct to be framed for members of parliament and other elected public representatives.
The deputy commissioners, in fact, appear to seeking more powers while curtailing the powers of the elected representatives. And, they do it riding on the weakness of the government. The government should in no way consider such propositions. The government should act boldly, knowing full well that people throw their weight behind the government.
