LG representatives to protest outside Adiala jail

Elected local government representatives have announced a peaceful protest outside Adiala Jail on October 30 against the government failure to delegate funds and administrative powers to local governments in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

Nearly three years have passed since the LG elections, but the elected representatives have not received any developmental funds and administrative authority for their jurisdictions despite repeated protest demonstrations.

The protest is meant to convey a message to Imran Khan, founder of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, regarding the local government crisis due to centralized powers kept with the provincial government.

Chairman neighbourhood councils in Nowshera district, Taimur Kamal, in a press statement on Friday said that the Provincial Action Council has decided to hold peaceful protests outside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on October 30 and outside the Chief Minister House in Peshawar on November 5, where local government representatives from Tehsils will participate.

He said that the Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who often speaks about rights and good governance, has failed to deliver on his promises to empower LG representatives.

He said that the failure reflected the provincial government's inability to empower LGs through transfer of powers to the grassroots level, which helps in solving public problems at their doorstep.

He said that provincial government has only added to the issues already faced by the general public in the province by restricting the powers of the LGs.

He added that over 29,000 local government representatives, elected by more than four million voters, have been denied powers, which undermines the masses votes.