To the grass roots: Local govt regulation to devolve powers in FATA

Seats will be reserved for women, peasants, minorities

PESHAWAR: An overview of the FATA Local Government Regulation, 2016 presents an elaborate system of decentralised governance as per requirements of the Constitution. The attempt to devolve power to the grass-roots in the tribal areas is part of the reforms process. Seats have been reserved for peasants, minorities and youth.

The draft of the local government system shows councils constituted under this regulation shall be a union council, municipal committee, Frontier Region council for each FR and an agency council that would be referred by the name of the respective agency.

For devolution

The governor of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will constitute a delimitation authority to demarcate unions and municipalities, thereby determining powers and functions for them.

A union would be an area comprising a tribal sub tehsil or an area of one or more villages formed on the basis of census.

Each union council will comprise of 13 members – a chairperson, seven Muslim members elected to general seats, two members elected to seats reserved for women, one member elected to seat reserved for peasants, one elected to seat reserved for youth and one elected to seat reserved for non-Muslims.

In the municipal committee the municipality will be a multi-member ward.



The Frontier Region Council in each FR shall comprise general seats, seats reserved for women, peasants, youth and non-Muslims as described in the first schedule of the act, while the agency council in each agency shall comprise general seats equal to the number of unions in the agency.

“We have adopted the model of local government in Punjab,” an official involved in the legislative process told The Express Tribune. He added the local bodies will have immense powers for by-laws under their jurisdiction to regulate and impose taxes and also collect fines for offences.

There would be no minority seats in areas where there are no minority members.

Reins of power

It empowers local communities to take control of some of the basic needs. These include public health initiatives, the agricultural sector, traffic management, cultural events and defining building codes. The act also gives immense financial powers to the local bodies at the grass-root level to not only utilise expenses but also make their own budgets as per their needs.



However, the governor has been given expansive powers under the local government regulation for Fata.

While the local bodies have been given financial powers with the establishment public accounts and local funds, the auditor general of Pakistan has been given jurisdiction for a financial audit to maintain the check and balance.

The money for the local councils will be provided by the Local Council Grants, a fiscal body to transfer funds.

Moreover, the governor shall appoint a local councils’ commission which will conduct annual and special inspections of local councils and submit reports to the governor. The commission would also conduct and enquiry, either on its own or on governor’s order, into any matter concerning a local council. The commission would also provide input if the chairperson or any other member is charged with misconduct.

The term of office of a local council shall be four years commencing on the date on which it holds its first meeting.

“The local bodies lie at the core of Fata reforms,” the official said. “It is part of the constitutional package that carried many other legislative measures as part of the broad based reforms.”

He added the president had the power to include or exclude any area under the ambit of this regulation.

The earlier legislation for Fata in 2012, to begin a local government system, failed despite several efforts. However, officials concerned believe the situation now is different. “It is not like reforms are an option [now],” a senior official said. “It has become the need of the hour.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26^th, 2016.