In praise of K-P: Inayatullah lashes out at LG representatives

Says focus should be on development, not transfers and postings

HARIPUR: Lashing out at local government representatives, Minister for LG Inayatullah Khan asked them to focus on development and eradication of corruption instead of transfers and postings.

The minister expressed these views at a councillors’ convention in Haripur on Tuesday. He said transfers and postings in government departments were not the prerogative of LG representatives and they should focus on facilitating development in their respective areas.

Only democracy in Pakistan?

He said the LG system introduced by the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf-led coalition government was unique in its nature and the power conferred on elected nazims, naib nazims and councillors was unprecedented.

The minister said K-P had the only democratic government in the country which conducted fair and free LG polls for the first time in the history of Pakistan and devolved power to 43,000 elected representatives.

Money in the coffers

About financial powers, the minister said Rs42 billion has been disbursed to local bodies across the province. He said Rs2 million has been allocated for a village council with 2,000 people, while Rs5 million for those with a population of 10,000. Inayatullah said the auction of TMAs contracts was transparent and in line with a policy devised in 2013, every TMA has witnessed an increase in its revenue by 73%.

He added the government has decided to appoint 24 engineers, 44 sub engineers and 150 technical staff for TMAs across the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2016.