August 21, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 18, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 20: Nazims from all over Punjab have demanded that the government should hold a tripartite meeting before introducing any amendments to the local government system or abolishing it.

A number of amendments have already been introduced to the Local Government Ordinance without consulting the major stakeholders - the elected people running the local governments - but the system has never been implemented in letter and spirit, a group of district and tehsil nazims told Dawn on Wednesday.

Powers, not resources, were devolved to all tiers of the system. “We have been like an army that is given arms without ammunition and asked to fight a well-equipped enemy gallantly,” said a nazim who wished not to be named.

For the past four months or so, they had been urging the new government to adopt a clear-cut policy as there had been no ambiguity in the constitution regarding the role of the local governments.

A nazim, who had been to the United Kingdom to see the working of local governments there, said: “We have been under stress since the coalition partners took power. District coordination officers and tehsil municipal officers were not allowing district and tehsil nazims to work. Even hurdles were created in the preparation and passage of annual fiscal plans. First we were intimidated with the special audit and now Minister for Local Government Dost Muhammad Khosa has told the Punjab Assembly that all four provincial governments have reached a consensus on replacing the existing local government system with the one in vogue in 1979.

“The two tiers of the government in UK are delivering because both function under the parameters defined in their law. UK’s local bodies get 60 per cent of the total development budget of the country, but we have been told to be content with the 30 per cent (of the uplift budget) and leave the remaining at the disposal of MNAs and MPAs. The MNAs and MPAs are meant for legislation and not for constructing roads and streets and laying sewerage and water supply systems.

“We are not against accountability of a few black sheep in our ranks rather we’ll support it. Good and bad people are in every system, but will it be wise to punish all for the sins of a few? Instead of wrapping up the entire system, the government should improve it, in consultation with the people running it and MNAs and MPAs, boost its monitoring system and let it complete its term,” the nazim said.

However, Lodhran Tehsil Nazim and Local Councils Association of Punjab President Asghar Husain Gilani was optimistic about the future of the present local government system. “We are seeking time from the local government minister, secretary and the National Reconstruction Bureau chairman. Hopefully, the government will introduce some amendments to the Local Government Ordinance after consulting all stakeholders,” Gilani told this reporter by phone.