Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia yesterday urged the Deputy Commissioners of districts to enhance vigilance and thwart any resurgence of the terror and militant campaigns the nation witnessed until their recent effective crashing across the country.(The Independent )

Her call against any attempt by militants and terrors to regroup anywhere in the districts came amid ongoing drives by the government showed remarkable success in curbing acts of violence.

"The DCs have an important role in maintaining the law and order as district magistrates," the Prime Minister told them at the opening of their three-day Deputy Commissioners Conference 2006 in the conference room of the cabinet division in Bangladesh Secretariat.

During deliberation at the conference, some of the DCs also learnt to have drew the attention of the Prime Minister to a list of 101 problems they think should be resolved in coming months before the BNP led four-party alliance government is scheduled to hand over power to caretaker government in October. They also informed the PM on the on-going development activities, future prospects and problems in their respective areas.

Twenty-nine Deputy Commissioners and one Divisional Commissioner took part in the deliberations at the conference which was also addressed by Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Health Minister Khandokar Mosharraf Hossain.

Political Secretary to PM Haris Chowdhury and Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Uddin Siddique were also present.

Agency reports quoted Begum Zia as telling the deputy commissioners to also work devotedly to implement public welfare-oriented projects without fear in tune with government policy.

She hoped that they would extend all-out cooperation to the government in its effort to build a dynamic, transparent and accountable administration.

"A Deputy Commissioner should be an honest, educated and culturally conscious person. He or she has to implement government programme rising above all fears and pressures," the PM told the field-level chiefs from 64 administrative districts.

"You will have to work for the interest of the Republic. He or she will be a role model of ideal person to local people," she reminded.

Begum Zia said that the DCs could play an important role at the field level as government representatives and work as a bridge between central government and local people.

Referring to her call made at the previous DC Conference, she urged them to communicate directly with the Prime Minister in case of any urgent matter relating to wellbeing of people in their respective districts as well as to solve development-related problems.

"I believe the people of Bangladesh have immense potential; these people can change the face of the country given the scope. We are trying to show the way to people and will carry out efforts to that end in the future also," she observed.

She directed the DCs to give special attention to fair management of land and advised them to be courageous in protecting and recovering landed property on state holdings.

Listing her government’s socio-economic success and ongoing development programmes, the Prime Minister said that development was a continuous process and this process would have to be carried on uninterrupted.

She said the present trend of development would have to be further strengthened in future and all development-minded people have to work shoulder to shoulder like they did in the past.

After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary MA Halim briefed newsmen, saying that this was a guideline-oriented discussion and the interaction would act as the driving force.

He said 39 decisions out of 59 taken in last year’s DC conference have been implemented and the rest are under implementation.

The cabinet secretary said the number of decisions of this year’s DC conference would be compiled soon.

On the first day of the conference, the DCs also proposed that a new law like "Artharin Adalat" should be enacted to recover arrears of gas and electricity bills. The proposal came in the context of PM’s directives to recover Tk 6,000 crores in arrears gas and electricity bills.

The DCs also proposed to set up "motivational community forum" to meet the crisis of fertiliser, fuel, gas and electricity. The PM is learnt to have accepted the proposals and assured the DCs that their suggestions would be considered and, where possible, would be implemented as early as possible.

A Deputy Commissioner told The Independent on condition of anonymity that some of the projects the Prime Minister committed earlier could not be implemented due to non-availability of funds.

"There are so many old and vulnerable health complexes in different districts and upazilas. If these complexes are not repaired soon, some of them could collapse causing fatalities," he added.

On the second day of the conference Monday, LGRD Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, Environment Minister Tariqul Islam, State Minister for Cultural Affairs Begum Selima Rahman and State Minister for Home Lutfuzzaman Babar will address the DCs. The DCs will also pay a courtesy call on President Prof. Dr Iajuddin Ahmed today.