Local government elections: Redrawing boundaries puzzles officials

Officials say that the delimitation of constituencies is being carried out for political gains .

KARACHI:

After the Sindh government gave the go-ahead to start delimitation from the union councils, the deputy commissioners of Karachi have started the process by undoing the changes to the boundaries made during 2001-2002.

The delimitation of constituencies, which was supposed to start from September 26 following the Supreme Court's directives to hold the local government election, started on September 30 as the local government issued the notification two days late.



"After the 2001 delimitation, the five union councils of district South, which come under Mehmoodabad, Akhtar Colony, Manzoor Colony and Chanesar Goth, were shifted to district East," South Deputy Commissioner Jamal Mustafa Qazi told The Express Tribune. "We have almost finished the preliminary work by holding meetings with different stakeholders, including the election commission and census department. We have also taken in account the opinions of the local people and have decided to relocate the areas back to district South."

Qazi said that the first phase of delimitation was almost complete and they would listen to the appeals and objections of people from different segments of the society in the next seven days. "The week after that will be used to redress the raised concerns," he said, adding that they have started delimitation on the basis of the 1998 census. "We have no mandate to include the newly established settlements in the incumbent constituencies and are fixing the problem on basis of the old census."

Unclear process

An official of district Central, however, appeared confused as to the purpose of the delimitation since they have been told not to touch the existing census blocks or alter the population.

"We have been asked to follow the 1998 population census. It means that we will have the same number of union councils in each district. We cannot even show the increasing and decreasing trend of population," said the official on the condition of anonymity. "The only difference is that the union councils will be known as union committees and revenue boundaries are being changed." According to him, the previous government had changed the revenue boundaries for political motives and the current government was doing the same by reverting them.

Local voices

The deputy commissioner for district Central, Dr Saifur Rehman, told The Express Tribune that they had started taking people's feedback but had not received any complaints about alterations in the revenue boundaries. "Our role is limited, but we are waiting on the deadline to submit the report as there was nothing to change in this district," he said.

When contacted, the Malir Deputy Commissioner Qazi Jan Muhammad said that they were still hearing people's grievances. "The previous government had created a mess in 2001 by altering the boundaries of the union councils. Many of our union councils have been shifted to other districts. We are in the process of undoing those boundaries," he said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Local Government Secretary Ali Ahmed Lund refuted the reports that the delimitation process was being carried out for political gains. "The provincial government was given the deadline to hold the local government elections by November 26. In this situation, we cannot proceed with complete delimitation which is only possible after the census," said Lund. "The deputy commissioners are getting people's feedback about the revenue boundaries which were earlier changed. I hope we will be able to fix the problem in the given deadline."

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2013.