September 30, 2007	Sunday	Ramazan 17, 1428

LAHORE, Sept 29: National Commission on Government Reforms Chairman Dr Ishrat Husain on Saturday disagreed with the notion that the district governments should not be given authority as they lack capacity.

“It is generally said at the provincial government level that the local bodies lack capacity so certain powers should not be devolved to them. This notion is not correct,” he maintained while speaking at the launch of the National Reconstruction Information Management System (NRIMS) at a hotel.

“A local government has direct interaction with the people. It can better understand, prioritise, needs and requirements of people of different areas in their jurisdiction. It can effectively resolve the day-to-day problems of the people at grassroots level.

“Usually, development projects are visualised at provincial level in the absence of concrete data and without taking into consideration the ground reality. Local governments should be involved at the planning stage of development schemes as projects initiated on the basis of personal whims cannot deliver,” argued the former governor of the State Bank who was the chief guest.

He said information technology could help empower the poor strata of the society only if both the officers and elected representatives at district level themselves used NRIMS instead of entrusting the responsibility to their assistants, clerks and computer operators.

This, he said, would not only improve the efficiency of district nazims and DCOs but also help them point out what the system lacked.

Dr Ishrat was optimistic that the launch of NARIMS in the Punjab districts would help improve the capacity, planning and management of local bodies. It could prove very beneficial instrument to ensure accountability as it would help bring more transparency and efficiency in the working of the district government.

National Reconstruction Bureau Chairman Daniyal Aziz said the adoption of information technology, especially the NRIMS, could help bring Pakistan on a par with developed states in the field of district management and administration.

He regretted that the documents like District Gazetteers were no longer prepared or updated by the provincial government.

About NRIMS, he said: “It is a software-based decision support system, developed to initiate the process of e-governance at the district level. It has been designed to work as an aid for monitoring and support to the local governments.”

Punjab Minister for Communication and Works Chaudhry Zaheeruddin said the Punjab government would always help the NRB in carrying out projects that could minimise chances of corruption and improve the performance of district governments so that these could deliver and improve the image of the government among the masses.

NRB focal adviser Adnan Shah explained salient features of the NRIMS and said it was initiated in Chakwal district as a model project in 2001. It was implemented in Tando Allahyar, Sindh, in 27 days while in Chakwal the system was completed in three months. The system had been successfully working in Toba Tek Singh district, he added.