Following is the English rendering of the
peace agreement signed between the National Committee on Chittagong Hill
Tracts affairs, formed by the government of Bangladesh, and Parbatya
Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, reports BSS.
Keeping full and unswerved allegiance in
Bangladesh's state sovereignty and territorial integrity in Bangladesh's
Chittagong Hill Tracts region under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of
the People's Republic of Bangladesh, the National Committee on Chittagong Hill
Tracts, on behalf of the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh,
and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, on behalf of the inhabitants of
Chittagong Hill Tracts, reached the following agreement in four parts (namely:
Ka, Kha, Ga, Gha) to uphold the political, social, cultural, educational and
economic rights of all the people of Chittagong Hill Tracts region, to
expedite socio-economic development process and to preserve respective the
rights of all the citizens of Bangladesh and their development.
(Ka) General:
1. Both the sides recognised the need for
protecting the characteristics and attaining overall development of the region
considering Chittagong Hill Tracts as a tribal inhabited region.
2. Both the parties have decided to formulate,
change, amend and incorporate concerned acts, regulations and practices as
soon as possible in keeping with the consensus and responsibility expressed in
different sections of the agreement.
3. An implementation committee will be formed to
monitor the implementation process of the agreement with the following
members:
Ka) A member nominated by the Prime Minister:
Convenor
Kha) Chairman of the taskforce formed under the
purview of the agreement ............ : member
Ga) President of Parbatya Chattagram Jana
Sanghati Samity ......... : member
4. The agreement will come into effect from the
date of itssigning and execution by both the sides. This agreement will be
valid from the date of its effect until all the steps are executed as per the
agreement.
(Kha) Chittagong Hill Tracts Local Government
Council/Hill District Council:
Both the sides have reached agreement with regard
to changing, amending, incorporating and writing off the existing Parbatya
Zila Sthanio Sarkar Parishad Ain 1989 (Rangamati Parbatya Zila Sthanio Sarkar
Parishad Ain 1989, Bandarban Parbatya Zila Sthanio Sarkar Parishad Ain 1989,
Khagrachhari Parbatya Zila Sthanio Sarkar Parishad Ain 1989) and its different
clauses before this agreement comes into force.
1. The word "tribal" used in different clauses of
the Parishad Ain will stay.
2. The name "Parbatya Zila Sthanio Sarkar
Parishad" will be amended and the name of parishad will be "Parbatya Zila
Parishad."
3. "Non-tribal permanent residents" will mean
those who are not a tribal but have legal lands and generally live in hill
districts at specific addresses.
4. Ka) There will be 3 (three) seats for women in
each of the Parbatya Zila Parishad. One third (1/3) of these seats will be for
non-tribals.
Kha) 1, 2, 3 and 4 sub-clauses of clause 4 will
remain in force as per the original act.
Ga) The words "deputy commissioner" and "deputy
commissioner's" in the second line of sub-clause (5) of clause 4 will be
replaced by "circle chief" and "circle chief's".
Gha) the following sub-clause will be
incorporated in the clause 4 "The concerned circle office will ascertain
whether a person is non-tribal or not on the basis of submission of
certificate given by concerned mouza headman/union parishad
chairman/pourashabha chairman and no non-tribal person can become the
non-tribal candidate without the certificate received from the circle officer
regarding this."
5. In the clause 7 it has been stated that the
chairman or any other elected member will have to take oath or give
declaration before Chittagong Divisional Commissioner before taking over
office. Amending this in place of "Chittagong Divisional Commissioner," the
members will take oath or give declaration before "any High Court Division
Judge."
6. The words "to Chittagong Divisional
Commissioner" will be replaced by "as per election rules" in the fourth line
of clause-8.
7. The words "three years" will be replace by
"five years" in thesecond line of clause 10.
8. In clause number 14 there will be provision
that a tribal member elected by other members of the Parishad will chair and
discharge other responsibilities if the post of chairman falls vacant or in
his absence.
9. The existing clause number 17 will be replaced
by the following sentences: A person will be considered eligible to be
enlisted in the voters list if he/she (1) is a Bangladeshi citizen (2) he/she
is not below the 18 years (3) appropriate court has not declared him mentally
sick (4) he/she is a permanent resident of hill district.
10. In sub-clause 2 of clause number 20 the words
"delimitations of constituencies" will be incorporated
independently.
11. In sub-clause 2 of clause 25 there will be a
provision that the chairman of all the meetings of the Parishad or a tribal
member elected by other members of the Parishad will chair meetings and
discharge other responsibilities if the post of chairman falls vacant or in
his absence.
12. As the entire region of Khagrachhari district
is not included in the Mong circle, the words "Khagrachhari Mong Chief" in
clause number 26 of Khagrachhari Parbatya Zila Sthanio Sarkar Parishad Ain
will be replaced by the words "Mong circle chief and Chakma circle chief."
Similarly, there will be scope for the presence of Bomang chief in the
meetings of Rangamati Parbatya Zila Parishad. In the same way, there will be
provision that the Bomang circle chief can attend the meetings of Bandarban
Parbatya Zila Parishad meetings if he wishes or invited to join.
13. In sub-clause (1) and sub-clause (2) of
clause 31 there will be a provision that a chief executive officer of the
status of a deputy secretary will be there as secretary in a Parishad and the
tribal officials will get priority in this post.
14. Ka) In sub clause (1) of clause 32 there will
be a provision that the Parishad will be able to create new posts for
different classes of officers and employees for properly conducting the
activities of the Parishad.
Kha) The sub-clause 2 of clause 32 will be
amended as follows: The Parishad can, according to rules, recruit class three
and four employees and can transfer, suspend, terminate or given any other
punishment. But condition would be that in case of such appointments the
tribal residents of the district will be given priority.
Ga) As per sub-clause (3) of clause 32, the
government, in consultation with the Parishad, may appoint officers for the
other posts and there will be legal provision to removed, suspend or terminate
or penalise officers as per the government rules.
15. 'As per rules' will be mentioned in
Sub-clause (3) of Rule 33.
16. In the third line of Sub-clause (1) of Rule
36, the words "or in any way devised by the government" will be
deleted.
17. Ka) The principal clause of the 'fourth' of
Sub-clause (One) of Clause 37 will be valid.
Kha) "As per rules "will be included in
Sub-clause (2), Gha, of Rule 37.
18. Sub-clause (3) of clause 38, will be
cancelled and sub-clause (4) will be amended in conformity with the following
text, "a new budget can be prepared and approved, if needed, at any time,
before the completion of the previous financial year."
19. Rules 42 will incorporate the following
sub-clause: "The parishad, with the allocated money from the government, will
receive, initiate or implement any development project in the transferred
subjects and all national level development programmes will be implemented
through the parishad by the concerned
ministries/divisions/organisations."
20. The word "Parishad" will replace the word
"government" in the second line of Sub-clause (2) of Rule 45.
21. Rules 50, 51, and 52 will be repealed and
following clauses will be introduced:
"If needed, the government will give advice or
regulatory directives for streamlining the Parishad activities with the
objectives of the aforesaid rules."
"The government, if the government receives any
hard evidence that any activity or proposed activity of the Parishad is
violating the aforesaid rules or is inconsistent with it, will have the
authority to ask for written information along with explanation. The
government will also have the authority to give advice or directives in this
regard."
22. "Within 90 days of abolition of the Parishad"
shall be read in place of "after the expiry of defunct period" before the
words "the act" under clause 53 sub-clause (3).
23. The word 'government' will be replaced by the
word "ministry" in the third and fourth lines in clause 61.
24. (A) sub-clause (1) in clause 62 will be
replaced by the following:
Whatever be the provisions in the currently
prevailing laws, hill districts police sub-inspector and below shall be
appointed by the Parishad as per the prescribed rules and the Parishad will
transfer, and take action against them as per the prescribed rules.
However, the condition will be that tribals of
the district will get preference in case of this appointment.
25. The words "supports will be provided" will
remain in thirdline in clause 63.
26. Clause 64 will be amended as
follows:
a) Whatever exists in the currently prevailing
laws, without prior permission of the parishad, no lands, including leasable
khas lands in the district, can be leased out, sold, purchased or
transferred.
However, it will not be applicable in case of the
reserved forest, Kaptai Hydroelectricity Project area, Betbunia Satellite
Station area, state-owned industrial enterprises and lands recorded in the
name of the government.
b) Whatever exists in the currently prevailing
other laws, the government cannot acquire or transfer any lands, hills and
forests under the jurisdictions of the Hill District Parishad without prior
discussion and approval of the Parishad.
Ga) The Parishad may supervise or control the
work of headmen, chairman, amin, surveyors, kanungo and assistant
commissioners (land).
Gha) The fringe land of Kaptai lake will be
leased out on priority basis to their original owners.
27. Clause 65 will be amended to formulate the
following: For the time being, whatever law is in force, the land development
tax of the district will be in the hand of the Parishad and the tax to be
collected on that account will be in the fund of the Parishad.
28. Clause 67 will be amended to formulate the
following: Parishad and the government will raise specific proposals if it is
necessary for the coordination of the Parishad and the government, and
coordination of work will be done through mutual consultations.
29. Sub-clause (1) of Clause 68 will be amended
to formulate the following sub-clause:
With a view to fulfilling the objectives of this
law, the government will be able to prepare rules after discussion with the
Parishad through gazette notification. Even after the formulation of any rule,
the Parishad will have the right to appeal to the government for
re-consideration of such rules.
30. Ka) In the first and second paragraphs of
sub-clause (1) of Clause 69, the words "prior approval of the government" will
be dropped and following part will be added after the words "should be done"
in the third para:
It is conditional that if the government
disagrees with any part of the provision formulated then the government will
be able to provide suggestions or directives regarding the
provision.
Kha) In the (Ja) of sub-clause (2) of Clause 69
the words "the power of the chairman will be given to any officers of
theparishad" will be dropped.
31. Clause 70 will be deleted.
32. Clause 79 will be amended to formulate the
following section:
The Parishad will be able to make written appeal
to the government in case it feels that a law passed by the Jatiya Sangsad or
any other authority is difficult for the district or objectionable for the
tribals after stating the reasons of the difficulty or objection and the
government may take appropriate steps for redressal as per the
appeal.
33. Ka) The word supervision will be added after
"discipline" in the schedule number one on the activities of the
Parishad.
Kha) The activities of the Parishad mentioned in
number three will be added with the following:
(1) Vocational education,
(2) Primary education in mother tongue
(3) Secondary education.
Ga) The words 'reserved' or will be dropped from
the first schedule of the activities of Parishad and sub-clause 6
(Kha).
34. The following subjects will be included in
the functions and responsibilities of the hill district parishads:
(Ka) Land and land
management,
(Kha) Police (local),
(Ga) Tribal law and social justice,
(Gha) Youth welfare,
(Uma) Environmental protection and
development,
(Cha) Local tourism,
(Chha) improvement trust and other local
government institutions, Barring paurashava and union parishads,
(Ja) Issue of licence to local industries and
business, barring Kaptai water resources, proper use and irrigation of other
rivers and canals and beels,
(Jha) Preservation of statistics of birth and
deaths,
(Ta) Business transactions and
(Tha) Jum cultivation.
35. The following subjects and sources will be
included for imposition of taxes, rate, toll and fees by the Parishad stated
in the second schedule:
(Ka) Registration fee of manual
vehicles,
(Kha) Tax on buying and selling of
commodities,
(Ga) Holding tax on land and
buildings,
(Gha) Tax on domestic animals,
(Uma) Fees of social judgement,
(Cha) Holding tax on government and
non-government industries, (Chha) A portion of royalty on forest
resources,
(Ja) Supplementary tax on cinema, jatra and
circus,
(Jha) Partial royalty of contracts by government
for search and exploration of mineral resources,(Neo) Tax on
business,
(Ta) Tax on Lottery,
(Tha) Tax on catching fish.
(Ga) Hill tracts regional parishad
1. A regional council will be formed combining
the three hill districts local government parishad through amending some
clause of three hill districts Local Government Parishad Act 1989 with a view
to strengthening and making them effective.
2. Chairman of the parishad will be indirectly
elected by the elected members of the parishad. The chairman will enjoy the
status of a state minister and he must be a tribal.
3. The parishad will consist of 22 members,
including its chairman.
