MULTAN, Jan 29: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is all eye for the joint role of the provincial and district governments under the development plan in the country.

This was stated in a official handout by a bank’s team, including Mr Douglas Bohar and Hamid Shareef, in a meeting with the representatives of local bodies here on Tuesday.

They said the bank had agreed to give Pakistan an aid of US $350 million to help improving the police and judicial system of the country. The bank would extend more assistance if the plan met with success, they said.

They said the bank officials would frequently visit Pakistan to develop working relations with the district governments. ‘Our focus will be laid on the autonomy of the districts vis-a-vis provincial government after the introduction of the local bodies system’, they said.

District Nazim Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi informed the bankers that the system was going well despite some hurdles. He claimed the bureaucracy was not playing its due role in cooperating with them.

He urged the ADB employees to consider district governments while disbursing aid package to encourage the real purpose of the devolution plan.