Dhaka: Local government doesn’t exist in reality though it exists in black and white, observes former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan.

Akbar Ali Khan made the comment at a discussion titled ‘Goals for Sustainable Development’ held in Dhaka on Monday.

He said, ‘Civil society members aren’t yes-man. Their work is to correct government’s faults and suggest what should be done. But the government always says the civil society doesn’t praise their great initiatives. But these aren’t the civil society’s job as there are many government agencies and political parties to publicize these initiatives. So, the civil society in Bangladesh is under pressure.’

The former cabinet secretary said, ‘The civil society can keep the government under pressure to bolster local government.’

The former caretaker government adviser said, ‘The country’s education rate is going up and the condition of nutrition is going down more than South Africa. Our food production has increased manifolds in last decades and the crisis of pure drinking water still remains.’

He thinks it will be tough to implement sustainable development goals after millennium development goals.

Discussants of the meeting, including Badiul Alam Mazumdar, stressed to strengthen local government system to achieve sustainable development goals.