District meeting: Representatives meet to discuss issues

Participants from all walks of life evaluate city’s problems.

ISLAMABAD: A district wide meeting of representatives of various sections of the society came together here on Sunday to identify the problems being faced by the residents of the capital.

The participants, including lawyers, traders, and labourers analysed many of the issues raised at the meeting. This was the first time such a meeting has been held in Islamabad.

Poor quality of water, sanitation and health services, law and order, and uneven distribution of services to rural and urban localities were identified as some of the most pressing issues. The participants agreed that these practices showed a bias in favour of the elites, which they said was the result of corruption.

They held the civil bureaucracy and political interference responsible for the poor governance in the city.

They unanimously passed a resolution in favour of the PIA employees, demanding the withdrawal of its privatisation.

The gathering also called for making the Union Councils and the capital’s new Metropolitan Corporation fully autonomous. The participants also drafted a ‘citizens’ charter’ and formed a steering committee which will oversee the progress of charter.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 8^th,  2016.