Local government constituencies: QAT demands renewed delimitation in Qasimabad

The party says that residents are being denied proportionate representation

HYDERABAD: The Qaumi Awami Tehreek (QAT) has demanded the renewed delimitation of local government constituencies in Hyderabad's Qasimabad taluka.

The nationalist party has written a letter, signed by four QAT office-bearers, to the district election commissioner. Copies have been sent to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and Sindh High Court as well as the chief election commissioner and the provincial and regional heads of the election commission, among others.

According to the letter, the residents of the rapidly growing township, which largely houses migrants from rural Sindh, are being denied proportionate representation. "After the population census of 1998, a new census was supposed to be held in 2008 but it has not been held to date," it stated. "During all these years, the population of Qasimabad has continuously risen."

A total of 31 wards, with 4,000 to 5,000 residents in each ward, were formed in Qasimabad Municipal Committee in the delimitation exercise carried out in November 2013. Based on this, the town's population was estimated to be around 150,000.

However, the QAT and even local leaders of Sindh's ruling Pakistan Peoples Party have repeatedly claimed that this figure is an underestimate. The nationalist party, in its letter, has demanded including Qasimabad in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (HMC) and forming 35 union committees in the town, each with a population of between 10,000 to 15,000 people.

Three separate municipal administrations were created in Hyderabad in 2013. The HMC comprised the City and Latifabad talukas, while the Qasimabad and Hyderabad Rural talukas were given separate administrative status. As many as 52 union committees were created in the City taluka and 44 in Latifabad taluka.

The delimitation process was carried out by the provincial election commission ahead of the local government elections that are scheduled to be held in Sindh in September this year.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2015.