Applications sought for demarcation committees

Demarcation of neighbourhood, villages councils will be completed in one month

RAWALPINDI:

Nominations have been invited for new committees which will conduct demarcation of neighbourhood councils (union councils) and village councils in accordance with the instructions of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

At the district level, the demarcation committees will comprise three officers. The district election commissioner will be its convenor while the deputy commissioner and a representative of the ministry of local bodies will be its members.

Lists of names for these committees will be prepared by December 31, while they will be formally notified in the first week of January 2022. After this, proper work on demarcation of new constituencies will be started.

A formal standard has also been set for demarcation of new constituencies, according to which, a Union Council will be called Neighborhood Council in urban areas, while in rural areas it will be called Village Council.

A Neighborhood Council will consist of a population of 20,000 people, while a Village Council will cater to a population of 15,000 people. However, in mountainous areas, a population of 10,000 people will have one Village Council.

The committees set up for the demarcation of new constituencies will be fully empowered.

In new constituencies, one village or one block would not be divided into two councils.

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One village or one block will be included in the same Neighbourhood Council or Village Council. Under the new rules framed, demarcation committees will be authorised for 10 per cent increase or decrease in the population of their respective constituencies.

The District Election Commissioner has sought official maps of all the areas from the Revenue Department, which will facilitate the demarcation of new constituencies. The process of demarcation will be completed within one month (January 31).

With the formation of a Neighborhood Council for a lesser population, the number of neighborhood councils in the Metropolitan Municipal Corporation will reach 100, which currently are 46.

Under the new municipal system, with the inclusion of 24 Union Councils of the suburbs of Potohar in the urban areas will increase the number to 70 and reach 100 in the new constituencies.

After the completion of the new demarcation, objections will be sought from citizens, voters and political parties after which the new constituencies will be finalised by March 31.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 21^st, 2021.