RAWALPINDI: Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Ali on Saturday took charge as the Rawalpindi administrator after Sardar Naseem’s term as mayor ended with the expiry of the local government’s (LG) tenure on Dec 31.

The deputy commissioner will also run the affairs of the district council.

In Murree, the assistant commissioner was given the charge of the tehsil’s administration. Similarly, assistant commissioners in other tehsils will run their respective municipal committee affairs.

After the expiry of the local government’s term in the province, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar issued a notification to appoint deputy commissioners in place of elected mayors and district council chairmen.

Assistant commissioners of all tehsils to run municipal committee affairs

The bureaucracy will run the affairs of the civic bodies for the next three to four months as the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) issued the schedule for delimitation of the district and village councils following the promulgation of the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2021.

According to the notification, the election body has directed the relevant officials to complete the delimitation of village and neighbourhood councils in Punjab by March 22.

The Election Commission will demarcate the neighbourhood and village councils and polling will take place 45 days after the final notification of the demarcation.

PML-N’s Sardar Naseem Khan served as mayor for two years, seven months and 10 days only. He took oath of his office on Dec 31, 2016.

However, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led Punjab government had dissolved the local bodies in May 2019 after coming into power in 2018.

The Supreme Court (SC) ordered restoration of the local government institutions in March 2021 after declaring their dissolution unconstitutional. But, the provincial government restored the system in October when the apex court started contempt of court proceedings against the Punjab government.

In October, the local government representatives assumed charge after the Punjab government formally issued a notification to implement the SC orders for restoration of the local government.

Under the Punjab Local Government Ordinance 2021, the mayor will be elected directly, though his powers will more or less remain the same with minor changes.

Under the new law, all the companies for water, sanitation and others will remain under the control of Lahore while the elected persons will look after construction work of streets and drains only. Health and education will remain under the control of the Punjab government.

According to senior officials of local government department, metropolitan corporations and district councils would replace tehsil councils, municipal corporations, municipal committees and town committees.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2022