LAHORE: The local councils in Punjab, which have been installed a fortnight ago after a two-year process, have now been given a ‘temporary arrangement’ for their income and expenditure.

The arrangement has, however, drawn sharp reaction from the local system observers.

Questioning the income side, some old-timers of the local governments say the heads counted as income in the arrangement have long stopped existing. Similarly, the expenditure side is too meagre to run even small offices, leave alone govern a particular area.

According to notifications, the proceeds of taxes, tolls, fees, rates or charges levied by the local governments (metropolitan and municipal corporations, district councils and municipal committees) have been put at their disposal. Similarly, grants made to, or money received by, the local bodies by the government or any other sources would be considered part of their budget.

Rents and profits payable, or accruing, to them from immovable property vested in them or managed by them, along with proceeds or any other profit from any investment, will also be part of their income.

Gifts, grants, contributions made by individuals or institutions and income coming from markets or fairs or fines and penalties imposed under this act would all be considered part of their income. The proceeds from other sources, which have been placed at the disposal of these governments, or any money transferred by the provincial or any other local bodies will be under income head.

“The above mentioned arrangements will remain in force till the notification of the relevant rules,” concludes the notification.

On the expenditure side, these local set-ups are allowed to prepare their budgets and present them to the house concerned. The government has considered the issue of expenditure out of the local fund till the approval of their budget. In order to remove this difficulty, the mayors and chairmen could make payments of salaries, pensions, utility bills, petrol and stationery. These expenditure, however, should not exceed Rs300,000 in case of Metropolitan and Municipal corporations, Rs100,000 in case of Municipal Committees, Rs10,000 in case of District Council and Rs10,000 in case of Union Council. These amounts do not include salaries.

“The expenditure made during this period will be subject to fulfillment of codal formalities and shall be incorporated in the coming budget of the respective local government.”

According to a former official of the Local Government Department, these arrangements are meant to keep these new set-ups in a limbo and they would faithfully serve the purpose. To begin with, these rules should have been formed much before the induction of these governments. But they are still nowhere in sight – reflecting the provincial priorities.

A close scrutiny of the rules only exposes their hollowness, he claims and maintains: “The income head is totally dubious, making these set-ups totally dependent on the provincial governments’ whims and killing any local initiatives. Where do these taxes, tolls and fees exist? How could grants and gifts run government and that too meant for local development? These rules would only substantiate the allegation that the Punjab government does not want to share power (developmental, administrative or financial) with these bodies and was forced to allow them under the pressure from the Supreme Court. Otherwise, it is determined to keep them at the periphery of governance,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2017