Local Government Reform Commission submits final report to Yunus

The commission, which aims to make the local government more effective, will present the recommendations in a press briefing

The Local Government Reform Commission has submitted its final report to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus nearly two months after the initial one.

The panel members handed over the report to the head of the interim government at the State Guest House Jamuna on Sunday afternoon, according to the Chief Advisor’s Office.

They are scheduled to brief the media on the report at the Foreign Service Academy at 6:30pm, where they will present the recommendations in detail.

The interim administration established five more reform commissions, including media, health, labour, women's affairs and local government in the second phase on Nov 18 last year.

The eight-strong commission, headed by Tofail Ahmed, was formed to recommend necessary reforms to strengthen local government and make it more effective.

Following the fall of the Awami League government in the face of a student-led mass uprising, the interim government formed 11 commissions to drive state reform initiatives in two phases.

Six reform commissions were formed in the first phase in October.

Reports from the first-phase commissions—on constitutional, judiciary, electoral, public administration, police and Anti-Corruption Commission reforms—have already been released.

In November, another five reform panels were established in the second phase.

These commissions were initially tasked with submitting their reports within 90 days, but their deadlines were extended twice, first to Mar 31 and later to Apr 30.

Among them, the Local Government Reform Commission’s preliminary recommendations were submitted on Feb 22, followed by the Media Reform Commission’s report on Mar 22.

With the submission of the Women’s Affairs Reform Commission’s report on Saturday, only the health and labour reform reports remain outstanding.

The National Consensus Commission has been conducting dialogues with political parties since Mar 20 to reach an agreement on the recommendations from the five reform commissions, except the Police Reform Commission.