July 21, 2007	Saturday	Rajab 05, 1428

CHITRAL, July 20: Chitral Nazim Maghfirat Shah has urged autonomy for districts, instead of provinces, for the success of the local government system. Talking to Dawn here on Friday, he said the devolution of power would be meaningless unless district governments were made financially sound. He said districts should be allocated funds in the National Financial Commission award.

He said flaws in the local government system should be removed and devolved and non-devolved departments should be brought under the purview of the district government. He proposed that a concurrent list of subjects should be worked out for the three tiers of the government.

He said the local government system was replete with ambiguities regarding authority and responsibility of the governments, which adversely affected the administration.

He said district governments had become a victim of political polarisation, which had marred its efficiency. In the case of a ‘hostile’ provincial government, he said, a district government remained crippled.

Demanding drastic changes in the police system, he said the district police should be made subservient to the district government.

He said magisterial powers enjoyed by the defunct district magistrate should be delegated to the district nazim. He proposed that approval of the district nazim should be made mandatory in posting of police officials in the district.

Mr Shah said shifting powers of the district development committee’s chairman to the district coordination officer was a joke with the district nazim.

He said members of national and provincial assemblies should not be allowed to interfere in district governments’ affairs and powers of elected representatives should be clearly defined.

The nazim said architects of the new system did not seem to be serious in its success.

About representation of women in the district government, he said the special quota assigned to them had not achieved the objective and women’s problems still remain unresolved.