ISLAMABAD: Instead of the newly introduced party-based local government system, public representatives prefer the previous system introduced by former dictator, retired General Pervez Musharraf.

Public local government representatives from across the country participated in an international conference regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) through the local government. The event was organised by various non-government organisations in collaboration with the United National Development Program on Tuesday.

Talking to Dawn, Nankana Sahib District Vice Chairman Rai Mohammad Mansha said public representatives either do not get funds or get very nominal funds after the establishment of the new local government system.

UCs cannot deliver because they do not have financial, administrative authority, local representatives say

“There are 65 union councils in Nankana Sahib and all the public representatives have exhausted all efforts to get funds. If local body representatives get funds, like they did in the Musharraf era, they will bring many good changes in their areas,” he said.

The former district nazim of Kasur, Imran Ali Khan, who is currently chairman UC 26 Kasur, said UCs should be made independent and funds should be transferred directly in their accounts so local representatives can deliver.

“After this, UCs should be made accountable in order to ensure that funds are not wasted. The government should ensure transparency in the funds used by UCs and allow them to deliver as per the people’s requirements,” he said.

Talking about the importance of UCs, Mr Khan said that in 1994, he was visiting a friend of his in a small German village and that his friend had taken him to the village council in order to register him.

“A woman working in the office scanned my passport and asked for my reason to visit. She then informed me to inform the village council before leaving the area,” he said.

He added that local government bodies in foreign countries play a vital part in maintaining the law and order, tracking down suspects and in collecting data.

Mr Khan said UCs should be used in a similar manner in Pakistan and that the chances of terrorism and other crimes will be reduced if local government bodies were to collect data in a similar way.

Participating in the event from Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Yousaf Ayub Khan said he was district nazim in 2005 and that then the local government had financial and administrative powers.

“At that time, nazims contributed a lot to development work. Currently, in KP, there are more financial powers but less administrative powers. On the other hand, there are so many checks on the financial powers that it becomes difficult to spend,” he said.

Mr Khan added that the local government system in KP is still better than that in other province due to the law stipulating that 30pc of the budget be allocated to the local bodies.

“Village councils in rural areas and neighbourhood councils in urban areas are also delivering,” he said.

The former nazim said this was the first time that party-based local government elections were held across the country and hoped that the situation will improve in the future.

Aftab Chandio, who came from Larkana Sindh, said local representatives cannot deliver unless they are given financial powers.

“The former nazims of Karachi, Mustafa Kamal and Nematullah Khan, delivered because they had financial autonomy. In interior Sindh, most of the funds were distributed among parliamentarians due to which complaints start coming in that no development was observed, not even in Larkana,” he said.

He added that local representatives know that people will not vote for them if they do not deliver.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2018