Aleem stresses on citizen involvement

Says the govt is set to introduce the best policies and start a revolution

LAHORE: Citizen participation in the local government system is a must for its success. No system is good or bad, but a lot depends on implementation. Punjab will introduce the best policies for the new local government set up and bring a revolution to the province.

This was stated by Punjab Senior Minister Abdul Aleem Khan as he addressed a seminar on Saturday. The seminar, which was about local government and community participation, was organised by MPA, writer and activist Jugnoo Mohsin.

Aleem Khan said a new set up of village and neighborhood councils was being introduced in which every council would comprise six to seven members. Union and tehsil councils, meanwhile, would be formed based on direct elections and a party basis. In the villages, the panchaiyat system would be established on a nonparty basis. For mayors and nazims, people would vote directly on a party basis.

The senior minister said one village and one council concept would provide the platform to start development in all 22,000 villages of Punjab simultaneously. “It will give new look to Punjab,” he said. Aleem pointed out that 30% funds for the Annual Development Program (ADP) would be directly transferred to these local government institutions. “Every elected council will be free to launch its developmental project.”

He claimed detailed deliberations were conducted on recommendations for local governments. The senior minister added the bill was now in its final stage. He assured that all drawbacks and shortcomings were reconsidered and concrete steps had been taken to introduce a solid system which can solve the people’s problems at a local level. “The past government did not bother to empower local government institutions and that is the reason elected representatives feel insecure and useless in the existing system,” he underscored.

MPA Jugnoo Mohsin said that MNA’s/MPA’s should not be given developmental funds and the deskwork should be done by local government representatives. Senator Musadaq Malik and other speakers stressed the need to come out of the experimental stage and introduce comprehensive local government system to solve the longstanding issues of the masses. They also gave a number of suggestions for the new system being introduced in Punjab and said proposals from the grassroots level were for great importance.