Local jokes

Published July 29, 2016
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.
The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

ELECTED council lords in Kasur were recently given something to keep them occupied, many months after their election. The district government asked them to keep an eye on the sanitation in their areas. Of course, the job was given the currently-in-vogue and respectable title of ‘monitoring’. These elected councillors were to be known for the time being as monitors which was, by every stretch, much better than hanging around as a useless — more helpless — bunch of people with nothing particular to do than ward off the taunts thrown at them by the electorate.

It was an official of the district administration of Kasur, apparently a very considerate man, who allowed these 50 councillors the monitoring work in their wards. Overall, it appeared to be part of an effort to placate those elected during the phased local government election in Punjab.

Generally, these elected representatives all over the province have been treated to little more than reassurances about their impending takeover at the local level. If at all, in some places the emptiness of their existence has been sought to be filled by high talk of theories of self-governance.

The process of election was completed around six months ago, but the local government representatives have yet to take charge. There is a legal case that prevents the takeover in Punjab, just as legal matters have delayed the much advertised and grudged transition in Sindh.


The process of election was completed around six months ago, but the local government representatives have yet to take charge.


The frustration has set in naturally. In an attempt to address the ‘impatience’ among the general councillors and other local government representatives such as the chairmen, vice chairmen etc, district officials in various parts of Punjab have engaged them through meetings — loosely aimed at preparing the cadres to take over where it matters theoretically ie at the grass roots.

The frequency of the meetings has picked up in recent weeks which could be a reflection of the seething anger in the camps of these elected representatives. They have been made to wait for so long that they have become a bit of a joke in their areas.

Title without power has created an example of these grass-roots representatives that they cannot be happy with. Routinely, they are made the butt of jokes by their electorate, even if, as in the case of an overwhelming majority, they happen to belong to the all-powerful PML-N.

Everyone is so sure that this is exactly where the problem lies: the PML-N was already so powerful that it did not need the empowering of fresh cadres at the basic level of governance. These thousands who aspire to lead the thrust at the level of the local government are born of compromise; they are there as a result of a court decree that compelled their election.

In rampant public perception, these unwanted souls must now be left abandoned until they can learn to fend for themselves, or they submit totally to the wishes of the more powerful. Long suspended in the air, the motley crowd of local government representatives must be grateful to their ‘creators’ when they are finally allowed to function. That is some revenge on the unwanted by those in authority. This is revenge by those who are totally uncommitted to the idea of sharing power and responsibility.

The old images that paint local governments in modest colours are perpetuated almost deliberately. Assigning the councillors the otherwise very difficult duty of ensuring sanitation, feeds on the old notion that this is what the local bodies are good for: ensuring that the sewerage didn’t overflow and the manholes covers were secure. But this may be far from the ideal work plan of sections of the increasingly aware populace.

The people had been hopeful about some real transfer of powers to the local level, swayed by the promise of good due to their own belief and by the pomp and inter- and intra-party competition at the time of the election. The impression was that it was something worth fighting for, which could only mean that some work was to be inevitably delegated to where it would be much easier to execute. In the event, the fear about the tendency to not share power did prevail, leaving the elected representatives in a ‘very embarrassing’ situation.

For instance, in the absence of a thoughtful district administrator who would at least let them act as monitors of sorts, the chairman, vice chairman and councillors in a Lahore area picked up the broom and launched a fight for their survival. That their effort also led to some cleaning up of the area could well be termed an additional benefit.

The action came after “the officials of the Lahore Waste Management Company ... and its Turkish contractor allegedly refused to do the job”.

“You cannot imagine the embarrassing situation we have to face daily, forcing us finally to start the cleaning of our streets on our own,” a Dawn report quoted the union council chairman-elect as saying. The gentleman, like almost all UC chairmen elected in the city, owes his allegiance to the PML-N.

He appeared to be quite frustrated while complaining about the way the officials, down to the junior-most member, treated local government representatives, and everyone in general. He was left with no option but to invest personally in the purchase of three brooms.

He was following in the honourable tradition of people who want to inspire those around them into action. That’s one obvious, dignified way of getting the job. Only he had been forced into making the expansive statement by the futility of his title. It was less a lesson in self-empowerment and more a protest against the denial of these powers.

There are no marks for guessing what the locality is called. It is called Miskeenpura.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2016

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