Grassroots democracy: Punjab govt urged not to delay local govts’ formation

Union council leaders say they lack powers to operate

LAHORE: Local governments are the key to strengthening democracy and improving service delivery. The provincial government must complete the last phase of local government polls so that powers are devolved to the elected representatives.

These views were expressed by speakers at a conference titled, Local Governance and Community Development, organised by Women in Struggle for Empowerment (WISE) on Monday. Several union council leaders, including chairmen, vice chairmen and general councillors were present on the occasion.

Zahid Islam, an expert on local governments, said that the local government system was more effective during Ayub Khan’s era. At that time, he said, union councils were assigned 76 functions compared to 36 these days. He said the current system granted union council leaders more municipal powers than powers related to development activities.

Islam said that although elected representatives had less powers now, they could still play their role in community development. He said he hoped that the last phase of the local government elections would be completed in a couple of months.

“It seems that the government does not want to make the system fully functional. There are a number of legal and technical hurdles. However, we should continue our struggle in this regard,” Islam said.

WISE executive director Bushra Khaliq said local governments involved the common man and minority communities. “The current local government system is very simple… but the role and responsibilities of elected representatives are quite important.

They are responsible for delivering a range of services to their communities, including public health, recreational facilities and infrastructure.”

Union Council Chairmen Ghulam Hussain Bhatti and Rana Shehzad urged the provincial government to complete the final phase of local government elections.

They said they were yet to be granted powers to address complaints from people in their areas. They said the delay in local governments’ formation could harm the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 10^th, 2016.