PESHAWAR, Feb 8: The NWFP Assembly’s special committee on the local bodies has stressed the need for empowering union councillors who have yet not been vested with the powers guaranteed to them by the Local Bodies Ordinance, 2000.

The special committee held its meeting here at the Assembly Hall on Saturday. Deputy Speaker Ikramullah Shahid, PPP parliamentary leader Abdul Akbar Khan, PML-N parliamentary leader Anwar Kamal Khan, ANP member Syed Qalb-i-Hasan, PML-Q member Zar Gul Khan, MMA members Muzaffar Said and Khalid Waqar Chamkani and assembly officials attended the meeting.

Mr Abdul Akbar told the committee members that the union councillors were not enjoying their due rights as enshrined in the ordinance. They were faced with difficulties in carrying out their responsibilities as elected representatives of their areas, he added.

He asked the government to implement the relevant articles that dealt with the powers and privileges of the councillors, who were the foundation of the local bodies edifice.

The councillors must be empowered and consulted on the planning and execution of the development schemes, he added.

Mr Abdul Akbar said councillors should be given monthly honorarium and other allowances guaranteed to them in the ordinance. He asked the government to ensure the implementation of the entire ordinance.

The chairman of the special committee, Mr Ikramullah Shahid, said that prior approval of the district development programmes by the union councils should be made mandatory. The union councils should be empowered to settle minor disputes at wards level so that this system could take roots effectively, he added.

The committee underlined the need for delegating reconciliatory powers to the union councils to decide about the family disputes at their ward and Mohalla levels. The committee also urged the government to make appointment of a District Ombudsmen as enshrined in the ordinance, he added.

Mr Abdul Akbar had tabled an adjournment motion on the lacunas of the local bodies system in the previous assembly session and demanded a complete overhaul of the system. Following this, the speaker referred the motion to the special committee on local bodies to review the points raised by the mover.