September 06, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 05, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Sept 5: City Nazim Raja Javed Ikhlas and the seven town nazims, who are politically associated with the PML-Q, have virtually been rendered powerless as the Punjab government has shifted their powers to the district coordination officer.

The nazims have been in the low profile after Shahbaz Sharif took oath as Chief Minister Punjab two months ago and empowered the DCOs in the province to take control of all administrative affairs in their respective districts.

While the people are bedeviled by artificial shortage of essential commodities, skyrocketing prices, profiteering and hoarding besides municipal issues, the once powerful district nazim now even cannot dare to convene a meeting and review the public problems.

Though the PML-Q elected representatives are striving hard to confront the pressure exerted by the new Punjab government, the old commissioner system in which DCO enjoyed full powers has almost made a comeback.

Official sources told Dawn that Chairman Chief Minister’s Task Force S. A. Hameed had been given the task to gradually shift all administrative powers of the nazims to the DCOs.

Mr Ikhlas has been ‘missing’ from his office after Jamal Mustafa, who earlier worked as EDO (revenue), was appointed as DCO on the recommendation of PML-N leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan.

Similarly, the town nazims have also been stripped of their powers after the Punjab government appointed new town municipal officers. A cold war is going on between the nazims of Rawal and Potohar towns and their TMOs.

Besides, the local police are also not following the directives of the elected representatives and are rather at war with the city nazim since the appointment of Rao Mohammad Iqbal as the CPO by the PML-N government.

The Rawal town nazim Sheikh Rashid Shafique has been deprived of even petty powers pertaining to sanitation and he now even cannot send a sanitary worker to a certain area for garbage lifting.

A week ago, the town’s naib nazim Chaudhry Farooq entered into a brawl with TMO Irfan Butt for what the former said flouting the order of the town nazim and hatching a conspiracy against the local government system. A visit to the city nazim office showed that Mr Ikhlas had been deprived of his powers and PML-Q supporters and members were seen chalking out ways and strategies for confronting the provincial government’s moves to altogether abolish the local government system.

“I have been separated from the affairs of Rawalpindi. Nobody obeys my directives. The Punjab government is utilising all resources to blackmail our reputation. But one thing is sure that we cannot bring changes unless we accept each other’s existence,” Mr Ikhlas said.

He complained that Punjab government officials visited Rawalpindi to hold meetings without consulting him on any issue. “They must respect and consult me keeping in view my experience in the administrative affairs of the district,” he added.

“They would not be able to control artificial price hike during Ramazan unless we are consulted. We want to give relief to people in this hard hour but unfortunately we are not taken on board,” he regretted.