Farzana Rahman, an officer of the 34th batch of the BCS administration. Currently serving as the Upazila Executive Officer in Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj.
She spoke about the crisis, prospects, education and future plans of Sonargaon Upazila, which is full of history and tradition. In an exclusive interview, she presented various aspects of the obstacles. Panir Bhuiyan, Sonargaon Upazila Correspondent of Daily Post, has taken the interview from her.
Daily Post: How are you fulfilling your responsibilities in Sonargaon in the current situation of the country?
Farzana Rahman: Since there are currently no public representatives, their responsibilities are being fulfilled by members of various union parishads and officials of various offices. Among them, since there are no MPs, municipal mayors, councilors and the chairman of 10 union parishads is absent, their responsibilities have to be fulfilled by the local union parishad members and upazila administration as acting chairman. I have to fulfill my duties as the administrator of the municipality - which is very challenging. However, since August 5, many development projects were closed, we have restored them through new tenders. We have been carrying out various development works including repairing major roads. Recently, 10,000 trees have been planted in various union parishad areas, including roads and schools, with the aim of further improving the environment of Sonargaon, along with the Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner.
Daily Post: How is the service delivery system being improved?
Farzana Rahman: Birth and death registration, various types of allowance payment programs are controlled through the union parishad. We are trying to ensure that these services reach the people more quickly. For this, we are re-analyzing the responsibilities and working so that people do not have to come to the upazila parishad and these services can be provided from the union parishad.
Daily Post: Which development projects are currently underway in your area?
Farzana Rahman: Currently, development work is underway in various unions. We have freed the historic Pangkhiraj Canal and put it into the organization`s work. Currently, a major road work has been inaugurated by 1% fund from Panchmighat GC to Hrekhtepura GC via Bardi Shantibazar Road. Which will be visible in a few days. In addition, a pleasant seating arrangement (temporary) for the service recipients has been completed and several projects including public hearings to provide land services and road widening are underway to bring services to the doorstep of the people. Their activities are being progressing rapidly.
Daily Post: Do you have any steps to control drugs, child marriage, and terrorist activities in the society?
Farzana Rahman: We want children to be more focused on their studies. We do not want children and adolescents to leave school at a young age and become work-oriented - this is not something we want. We are serious about improving the quality of education. We have also launched a website earlier. We have provided school bags, laptops, and various materials to various schools to improve the quality of education. We are also active with the police station administration to prevent child marriage, control drugs, land grabbing, and stop terrorist activities. Local people have also been involved in these activities. However, in these cases, there are also minor problems due to the lack of public representatives. Because public representatives are most involved with marginalized people. It is easy to provide services to everyone by knowing them.
Daily Post: Is any step being taken by the Upazila administration to prevent corruption?
Farzana Rahman: Every month, I have been holding monthly law and order and coordination meetings with all department heads and influential people of the area. In these meetings, we discuss corruption prevention and take effective steps. As you know, I have already started an open public hearing once a month on my initiative to prevent land corruption. Here, everyone will find an easy way to talk about their problems and find solutions. No brokers and government fees will be required to work. Such monthly meetings are held in every union parishad. The purpose of the meetings is to stop all kinds of irregularities and corruption from the society.
Daily Post: What is the biggest challenge in Upazila development activities?
Farzana Rahman: The biggest challenge in the development of the upazila is limited resources and lack of skills. Sometimes, the lack of awareness of the local people can also be observed. In addition, various obstacles in the implementation of the project pose challenges to us. We are trying to increase awareness among the people by addressing these challenges and utilizing the government allocation properly.
She also said, I have joined Sonargaon for a few days now.
Sonargaon`s long-standing problem is to clear the traffic jam by removing illegal sidewalks along the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways. We have been able to bring it back to tolerance by conducting several eviction campaigns, this is ongoing. More work needs to be done, in this regard, she also sought everyone`s cooperation. She further said, only if we can work with everyone`s cooperation and coordination can we present Sonargaon as a modern Sonargaon Upazila to the next generation, Insha-Allah.
