Rules bent to upgrade RMC status

RAWALPINDI:

The provincial cabinet approved modification in the population threshold to allot A-II status to Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC).

The population threshold for obtaining A-II status has been reduced to 1.9 million from two million to accommodate more officers, health and education facilities than the actual A-III status metropolitan corporation.

The approval was given in the cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

The upgrade in status means more funding and greater share in development schemes. Under the new local government system, there will be 70 Union Councils (UCs) in the RMC.

As per details, the lawmakers of Rawalpindi had expedited efforts for the new status as they were of the view that A-II status for the garrison city having a population of around two million was not suitable.

The officials said that Rawalpindi was not meeting the population requirement set for the status despite the inclusion of 24 UCs in its already existing 46 UCS. Therefore, it was given A-III status and three posts of the basic pay scale (BPS) 19 officials were also eliminated. However, the provincial cabinet has approved A-II status for Rawalpindi after amending the law.

They added that the notification in this regard would be issued soon as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2020.