LAHORE, Feb 26: The Punjab government has declared the establishment of the district government service in accordance with the wishes of the National Reconstruction Bureau impossible, saying the district governments themselves are not able to bear the load.

Other provinces in the country, too, did not have an intention to establish the service because of the problems it could create for the entire establishment, senior government officers informed Dawn here on Sunday.

They said if at all a decision was made to introduce the service, the district governments did not have the capacity to take its load.

The district governments were not self-sufficient with regard to their administration and finances, as they were surviving on the provincial government guidance and funds provided by the Provincial Finance Commission.

No district government in Punjab was generating resources even for its day-to-day expenses. So how would they be able to recruit and maintain their own staff? asked the officials.

Establishment of the district government service by Dec 31, 2005 was a must according to the amended Local Government Ordinance and the officials said no action had so far been initiated by the NRB against its delay in Punjab or any other province.

“Even the donor agencies funding the local government system in the country know that it is not easy to establish the district government service purely on the pattern provided by the NRB,” they said.

They said the idea of the service had been totally opposed by the public servants, who were recruited by the federal or provincial governments. They were employed to serve in the country or in the province and they did not want to spend all their lives in districts where there would be not much experience or promotion prospects.

The service establishment would mean creation of parallel service and general administration departments for every district which would be too costly.

Then it would create issues of seniority and many people would go for litigation. The government would also lose its human resources (officers), they said.