September 19, 2003	Friday	Rajab 21, 1424

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PESHAWAR, Sept 18: The district, tehsil and union council Nazims in the NWFP have failed to submit their six monthly performance reports to the provincial government, in violation of the Local Government Ordinance 2001, according to official sources.

Under sections 18 (i) and 57 (f) of the ordinance, the district and union council Nazims “will submit their progress reports to the Local Government and Rural Development Department after every six months to assess performance of the local bodies’ representatives.”

According to the law, officials said, three tiers of the local government system — district, town and tehsil Nazims — would present their achievement reports, covering law and order situation, development activities and future plan in their respective areas to the provincial government twice a year.

An official said despite provisions in the ordinance the district and union council Nazims bypassed the provincial government directives and did not send their reports to the local government department.

“District Nazims are reluctant to meet the chief minister or minister for local government,” the official said.

On the basis of the six-month reports, the provincial government had to analyse performance of district governments and union councils, he said.

Peshawar city district council convener Dr Iqbal Khalil, when contacted, said they did not receive any directives from the provincial government. He said it was the provincial government’s responsibility to inform all Nazims to send their performance reports.

He said the city district government regularly sent their reports about annual development programme and budgetary estimates to the local government department on monthly and quarterly basis.

He said Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah, when he was chief executive of the province, held meetings with district Nazims every month to discuss related matters, but Chief Minister Ikram Khan Durrani called Nazims’ meeting only once since he assumed the charge.