Warning bells: Village council members ask for a real devolution

Nazims, others say being subordinate to assistant director violation of LG act

PESHAWAR: Nazims and other elected members of village councils in the provincial capital criticised the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government for failing to devolve powers and allocate funds directly to the nazims for development projects. They threatened to hold protests starting February 3 if the powers granted to them under the Local Government (LG) Act 2013 were withheld.

These demands and warnings were issued during a news conference held by LG representatives at Peshawar Press Club on Monday.

Unfulfilled promises

“We were told by the LG minister that funds for development projects will be transferred in accounts of nazims, but so far no amount has been received,” Amanullah Khan, head of the 25-member committee formed by elected councillors to secure rights under the LG act, told The Express Tribune.

Amanullah, who is also the nazim of Isakhel union council, added funds for development projects at the grass-roots level were to be utilised by elected representatives directly and not through government officials. However, money is now being transferred to government officials of the districts to be “handed down” to elected representatives.

Malik Abid, another council member said, “We have been deprived of our powers, which is a violation of the rules of business of the LG act.” He added nazims were kept subordinate to the LG assistant director, which was also against the rules of business. The elected representatives argued that according to the LG act, funds were to be transferred to the nazims.

Reputation at stake

The elected representatives said they made promises to the public during elections, promises of progress and development. However, even after the passage of the eight months, they have not even been able to carry out any projects.

“We have been elected by the people and will always strive for their rights,” another councillor added. “We will hold a demonstration if the provincial government does not transfer powers to neighbourhood nazim, naib nazim and councillors.”

He added they could not be held responsible for health and education sectors when they were being limited by higher authorities.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2016.