Local government elections: Figures fail to add up as delimitation deadline approaches
Qasimabad’s growth has been phenomenal but we can’t rate it on estimates: PPP leader.
Qasimabad’s growth has been phenomenal but we can’t rate it on estimates: PPP leader. PHOTO: FILE
HYDERABAD:
The ongoing delimitation exercise for the local government elections appears set on denying representation to a majority of the people in the absence of a fresh population census. Besides, it has also divided Hyderabad district in three separate units, comprising one municipal corporation and two municipal committees.
This detachment is reflective of the political parties’ dominance in their respective areas - The City and Latifabad talukas, which elected legislators from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the May 2013 elections, have been put under the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC).
Meanwhile, Qasimabad and Hyderabad Rural talukas, the traditional strongholds of the Pakistan Peoples Party, have been made separate municipal committees.
The HMC will comprise the union committees in City and Latifabad talukas while the two municipal committees will have wards and union councils as their constituent units. The population limits for the UCs have been set from 10,000 to 15,000 and the wards will contain between 4,000 and 5,000 people. The final number of UCs and wards is yet to be notified.
The assistant commissioner Naeem Sindhu, told The Express Tribune that he has proposed up to 45 UCs for his taluka. “We have sent multiple proposals recommending a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 45 UCs.” The latest proposal was sent light of the new directives in the October 10 notification issued by the provincial government.
According to him, no major addition has been made to the taluka’s population which stood around 500,000 in the 1998 census. Similarly, Latifabad’s assistant commissioner Syed Ataullah Shah has submitted propositions for up to 38 union committees for the taluka.
In Hyderabad rural, at least one or two union councils will be added to the existing number of 11 UCs said the assistant commissioner Syed Inayat Ali Shah. The taluka will also have two town committees for Tando Jam and Hoosri towns.
Changing demographics
Over the last one-and-a-half decade since the last census, Hyderabad has seen a constant rise in local and migrant population coming from other parts of Sindh. The district’s population is estimated to be around 3 million at present, up from 1.167 million in 1998.
“Without a fresh population census, a large number of the people will go unrepresented in the LG polls,” says Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s MPA Sabir Qaimkhani. The MPA expressed lack of knowledge about the delimitation exercise, saying his party will take a stance when the final form of the UCs and wards is officially declared. “So far, the government itself appears confused. It has changed the population criteria for the wards and UCs several times.”
The lack of representation in the LG elections will be at its worse if the delimitation in Qasimabad taluka is done according to the submitted proposals. The town, which has seen an exponential population surge over the last decade, is inhabited by approximately more than 400,000 people.
Yet, the population factored in is only around 125,000, Assistant Commissioner Mehboob Siyal told The Express Tribune. The number of registered voters from the town in the general elections was 169,793.
Zahid Bhugari, the PPP’s district president who was twice elected as MPA from Qasimabad, though unsatisfied with the omission of the town’s major localities, says it is the only way for holding the LG elections in time. “Although Qasimabad’s growth has been phenomenal but we can’t rate it on estimates. There will be an outcry from the other talukas [in Hyderabad].”
The provincial government has extended the last date of completing the delimitation till October 25. The district administrations will share details of the delimitation before the deadline after which they will receive objections and appeals from the stakeholders.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s leader Ayub Shar as well as the nationalist parties said they will oppose any move which denies representation to the people.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2013.
The ongoing delimitation exercise for the local government elections appears set on denying representation to a majority of the people in the absence of a fresh population census. Besides, it has also divided Hyderabad district in three separate units, comprising one municipal corporation and two municipal committees.
This detachment is reflective of the political parties’ dominance in their respective areas - The City and Latifabad talukas, which elected legislators from the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the May 2013 elections, have been put under the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC).
Meanwhile, Qasimabad and Hyderabad Rural talukas, the traditional strongholds of the Pakistan Peoples Party, have been made separate municipal committees.
The HMC will comprise the union committees in City and Latifabad talukas while the two municipal committees will have wards and union councils as their constituent units. The population limits for the UCs have been set from 10,000 to 15,000 and the wards will contain between 4,000 and 5,000 people. The final number of UCs and wards is yet to be notified.
The assistant commissioner Naeem Sindhu, told The Express Tribune that he has proposed up to 45 UCs for his taluka. “We have sent multiple proposals recommending a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 45 UCs.” The latest proposal was sent light of the new directives in the October 10 notification issued by the provincial government.
According to him, no major addition has been made to the taluka’s population which stood around 500,000 in the 1998 census. Similarly, Latifabad’s assistant commissioner Syed Ataullah Shah has submitted propositions for up to 38 union committees for the taluka.
In Hyderabad rural, at least one or two union councils will be added to the existing number of 11 UCs said the assistant commissioner Syed Inayat Ali Shah. The taluka will also have two town committees for Tando Jam and Hoosri towns.
Changing demographics
Over the last one-and-a-half decade since the last census, Hyderabad has seen a constant rise in local and migrant population coming from other parts of Sindh. The district’s population is estimated to be around 3 million at present, up from 1.167 million in 1998.
“Without a fresh population census, a large number of the people will go unrepresented in the LG polls,” says Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s MPA Sabir Qaimkhani. The MPA expressed lack of knowledge about the delimitation exercise, saying his party will take a stance when the final form of the UCs and wards is officially declared. “So far, the government itself appears confused. It has changed the population criteria for the wards and UCs several times.”
The lack of representation in the LG elections will be at its worse if the delimitation in Qasimabad taluka is done according to the submitted proposals. The town, which has seen an exponential population surge over the last decade, is inhabited by approximately more than 400,000 people.
Yet, the population factored in is only around 125,000, Assistant Commissioner Mehboob Siyal told The Express Tribune. The number of registered voters from the town in the general elections was 169,793.
Zahid Bhugari, the PPP’s district president who was twice elected as MPA from Qasimabad, though unsatisfied with the omission of the town’s major localities, says it is the only way for holding the LG elections in time. “Although Qasimabad’s growth has been phenomenal but we can’t rate it on estimates. There will be an outcry from the other talukas [in Hyderabad].”
The provincial government has extended the last date of completing the delimitation till October 25. The district administrations will share details of the delimitation before the deadline after which they will receive objections and appeals from the stakeholders.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s leader Ayub Shar as well as the nationalist parties said they will oppose any move which denies representation to the people.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 20th, 2013.