PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local government and rural development department on Tuesday notified the rules of business for district, tehsil and municipal administrations of the province after months long delay.

Under the rules, nazims will call the shots in districts, while deputy commissioners will facilitate them in managing the administrative affairs of district governments.

The deputy commissioners will also act as the principal accounting officers of the respective district governments.

The local government representatives had been pressing the government for issuance of those rules of business since their election in May this year.

LG dept notifies long-delayed rules of business for district, tehsil, municipal admins

The notifications issued by the local government department were of the KP District Government Rules of Business 2015 and the KP Town and Tehsil Municipal Administration Rules of Business 2015.

According to Section 4 of the KP District Government Rules of Business 2015, the district administration will consist of district offices, including their sub-offices, devolved to the district government under the act, headed by officers designated as district officers and coordinated by the deputy commissioner.

Section 6 says the executive authority of the district government will vest in nazim, who will exercise his powers and perform functions as provided in the Local Government Act within the policy framework of the government.

It also suggests the nazim will be the approving authority for expenditure within the prescribed sphere of responsibilities. However, he will not be the co-signatory to the cheques with the drawing and disbursing officers at district.

Also, the nazim will be a non-voting co-opted member of the district development advisory committee in the respective district to participate in the meetings for avoiding duplication and overlapping of development schemes being executed under different funding arrangements.

Section 8 of these rules says the deputy commissioner will be coordinating head of the secretariat to facilitate in day to day working of the district government and as a coordinating head he has authority to call for review and assess the performance of district offices and give directions for taking actions or measures to improve efficiency, service delivery and achievement of assigned targets and goals.

Also as coordinating head, all cases submitted to the nazim will be routed through the deputy commissioner. While submitting a case for orders of the nazim, he will suggest a definite line of action.

The section also says in matters of policy and important decisions, the deputy commissioner will obtain the approval of the nazim before communicating such matters and decisions to the government.

A district office will consist of an officer designated as district officer and such other officers and officials as might be indicated in the schedule of establishment for that office by the respective government departments for devolution to district government.

Schedule 1 of RoBs mentions 15 proposed district offices, while schedule II further delineates the job of each office.

A district officer will be entrusted with the charge of a district office in district government.

The general procedure for the disposal of business states the deputy commissioner will circulate instructions about the manner and timelines for disposal of the business of the district government. In case a doubt arises about the district office to which a case properly pertains, the matter will be referred to the deputy commissioner, who will obtain orders of nazim, if necessary, and the orders thus passed will be deemed final.

The transfers and posting of officers to a district government will be regulated by the government’s policy.

As for the transfer and posting of officers in BPS-17 and above, including deputy commissioners and district heads of devolved departments, it will be made by the provincial government.

However, transfers and postings in BPS-16 and below will be the privilege of the respective district heads.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play