New LG law hangs in the balance

LG bodies in Rawalpindi district fail to prepare budget

RAWALPINDI:

The new Local Government Act 2022 remains in limbo due to an uncertain future of the provincial government led by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.

Sources said that 14 local bodies in the Rawalpindi district could not prepare their budget, even though the new fiscal year 2022–2023 had already begun, due to the uncertainty of the provincial government.

Sources said that due to the non-implementation of the new act, the demarcation of union councils, transfer and distribution of assets and employees and accounts of local bodies continue to hang in the balance. Under the 14 local bodies, the district council, the metropolitan corporation, the municipal corporation Murree, five municipal committees, five tehsil councils and one Dawlatullah Town Council have been established in the Rawalpindi district under the new Local Government Act 2022.

The tehsil councils had already been abolished, leaving Rawalpindi as the only district council. The seven tehsils in the district have now regained their former tehsil council status. Tehsil councils have been reinstated, but their chiefs, officials, and employees have not yet been appointed.

Tehsil councils, town committees and municipal committees have all been established, but their demarcations have not yet been completed, and no new bank accounts have been opened. It has become a challenge for these institutions to submit their income and revenue due to the non-preparation of the budget.

Local body department sources told The Express Tribune that these local bodies’ budgets cannot be formed until Punjab’s new government is established following the by-elections. They said that at this point, they are merely covering the employees’ salaries and utility bills. The budget will be prepared once the new Punjab government is established, the sources said.

The sources said that the boundaries of all 14 of these local bodies will be determined after the new government is formed.

The Punjab government has restored Rawalpindi’s metropolitan status under the new local government act, 2022.

In June, the Punjab government reduced the status of the Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) to the rank of a municipal corporation after restoring the Punjab Local Government Act 2019.

Under the new act 2022, Murree has been given the status of a municipal corporation despite having fewer union councils. The Murree Municipal Corporation will be the smallest municipality in Punjab.

Similarly, with the restoration of the district council, tehsil and town system, the number of local bodies in the Rawalpindi district has been increased to 19. The total number of local body representatives has also increased to over 500.

All local bodies will fall under the Rawalpindi district council which will oversee the affairs and functions of all government agencies throughout the district. Similarly, Kotli Satian, Kahuta, Kalar Syedan, Gujar Khan and Taxila will have five tehsil councils and five municipal committees while Doltala will be a separate town. Similarly, there will be five Cantonment boards — Rawalpindi, Chaklala, Wah, Taxila and Murree — in the Rawalpindi district. The Murree Cantonment Board will have only two elected members.

The Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation will continue to have 46 union councils. The chairmen of the union councils will be members of the corporation. Rural union councils will now be tehsil councils while the urban area of each tehsil will be part of the municipal committee.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2022.