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PRIME Minister Khan has prioritised plans to replicate the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act in the other provinces. The 2013 act is similar to Musharraf’s 2001 model, but with further erosion of powers. Craftily drafted by the babus, it negates Mr Khan’s vision. The Local Councils Association KP has declared the 2001 system better. Establishing weak and poorly functioning local governments is not a step in the right direction.
Under the Constitution, local governments are not an independent tier of government. Accordingly, in the KP model, the government can issue policies and directives to local governments and, if they fail to comply, suspend the nazim. The problem arises with undue interference by the province. The Local Government Commission maintains a delicate balance, but its composition favours the government. It is a toothless recommendatory body, whereas its decisions need to be binding. Government officials, who cannot devote time to the commission, need to be replaced with experts.
The much-trumpeted devolution to the village level is basically an unrealistic, populist move. The earlier 1,001 union councils (with 13 members each) have been replaced with 3,501 village and neighbourhood councils in 26 districts councils. It has always been an uphill task to administer, finance and audit the union councils — it remains neglected to date. To avoid overburdening the system, the lowest tier can remain at the union council level, but the number of members should be increased to 25 to ensure village-level representation. To overcome the issue of lack of capacity, at least 30 per cent of the seats may be reserved for experts. Reserved seats for youth, peasants and workers should be abolished.
The ‘KP model’ needs to be revamped.
The concept of intra-district coordination and monitoring is too simplistic and impractical in the absence of specific powers and capacity. All levels of local government are required to supervise the performance of government offices in their jurisdiction. Village councils are also to monitor the police — a perilous task. Inspection of lower levels of governments only by the district administration amounts to undue interference. To reduce the workload of the provincial departments and improve communication, reporting and oversight, a dedicated provincial officer should be posted in each district for intergovernmental matters.
Large development schemes beyond a certain threshold or complexity should be at the district or provincial level. There is hardly any town planning capacity at the district level, let alone at the tehsil level. At the village level, only a low-grade secretary-cum-accountant is provided. To expect a village council to oversee a huge agenda without resources is unrealistic. In Punjab, the fate of the district authorities, a parallel technocratic system, will have to be determined. The PML-N is already up in arms against the KP model. With its half-baked proposal, the Punjab battlefield may become the PTI’s Waterloo.
At present, the local government staff includes servants of local governments and local council service staff managed by the local council board, and those under the provincial and federal governments. This has not been addressed by the KP act. Local governments need to have their own service. In the past, DCOs were more powerful than nazims. The situation has only deteriorated. The DC, as coordinating head of the district government, is not clearly answerable to the nazim. All postings and transfers above grade-16, and disciplinary action and performance evaluation of officers, are to be made by the government.
In KP, direct party-based elections have been introduced except at the village and neighbourhood level. To avoid horse-trading, Mr Khan plans to introduce direct elections for district and tehsil council nazims and naib nazims. The party-based system needs to be evaluated before replication, as ‘elite capture’ of councils is now more entrenched due to party politics. The powers of the ECP have been curtailed as rules are to be prescribed by the government.
The powers and functions of the Provincial Finance Commission, the cornerstone of ensuring financial sustainability, has been greatly undermined by the 2013 act (reduced from a chapter to a paragraph). The minimum percentage of the total provincial development budget should be around 50pc for local governments. The octroi and zila tax compensation should be merged into the PFC award.
Overall, the PTI’s flagship reform in KP does not ensure proper distribution of functions, efficient institutional structures or equitable resource distribution, nor does it encourage women’s participation or empower local government. It is merely furthering a ‘DC Raj’ in naya Pakistan.
The writer is a former member of the National Reconstruction Bureau.
Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2018
