Centre taking 'revolutionary steps' to improve governance in country: PM Imran

PM apprised of draft law for local government by Punjab law minister

Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the federal government was taking 'revolutionary steps' to improve governance in the country.

The prime minister told Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat, who called on him on Sunday, that the Centre will extend complete cooperation to the provincial government in improving governance. The PM was apprised on the draft law for local government system by the Punjab Law Minister.

A handout issued regarding the meeting quoted the law minister as saying 'the new law will materialise the dream of real change'.The PM also lauded the efforts of the Punjab government for initiatives taken by them for the welfare of the people and improvement in service delivery.

In April 2019 the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Local Government Bill 2019. Beginning May 2020, around 3,454 defunct union councils were notified of being discontinued. According to the notification issued then, the tasks of the defunct functionaries would be taken over by the next elected local governments.

After approval from the provincial assembly, elections of neighbourhood and village councils are to be held on a non-party basis, while voters would be able to elect the mayor of their district through direct voting.

As per the amended act, “455 local governments will be established for the implementation of development schemes across Punjab.”

Official sources revealed that the new local government system will have district, tehsil and village councils.

Meanwhile, the provincial local government department is also undergoing a digitisation process and aims to make government services more accessible for citizens through mobile and desktop applications.

Last month, the provincial assembly also passed the Punjab Local Government (Amendment) Bill and Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbouring Councils (Amendment) Bill 2020.