MUZAFFARABAD: The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government has accorded approval to provision of Rs411 million to 10 district councils and five municipal corporations to help them carry out developmental activities in accordance with the laid down procedure.

Through the second tranche, which would also be released soon, the remaining LG institutions would also be accommodated on the same pattern, said AJK minister for local government and rural development (LG&RD) Faisal Mumtaz Rathore at a press talk here on Tuesday.

LG&RD secretary Syed Shahid Mohyiddin Qadri and information and forest secretary Ansar Yaqoob were also present on the occasion.

The local government (LG) elections were held in AJK in 2022 in three phases after a gap of more than three decades. However, the elected councillors had been continually expressing dissatisfaction that neither did they possess fiscal resources nor administrative authority to come up to the expectations of their electorate.

Last year, the government had constituted a committee, headed by Mr Rathore, to find a practicable solution to the issue in keeping with the fiscal position of the state.

Mr Rathore said the committee had unanimously recommended to the government to allocate development funds for the LG institutions following which it was decided to spare Rs819 million from “block provision for new initiatives” – a head in the annual development programme of the LG&RD department – for the purpose.

Under the first tranche, 133 wards of the five municipal corporations of state - Muzaffarabad, Bagh, Rawalakot, Kotli and Mirpur - and 278 union councils (UC) of all 10 district councils would get Rs1 million each grant for development purpose at the discretion of the elected councillor concerned.

The next tranche of Rs408 million would disburse Rs1 million each to 278 union councils, 77 wards of 14 municipal committees and 53 wards of 12 town committees, to be spent at the discretion of the UC chairman and municipal and town committee councillors, respectively, Mr Rathore said.

“This is a big initiative whose credit must be given to the present government,” he said.

The LG&RD minister expressed the hope that the councillors would make best possible utilisation of these funds in accordance with the laid down procedure.

He advised the LG institutions to set a benchmark whereby no scheme worth less than Rs100,000 should be entertained and approved.

“I will also advise the LG institutions not to remain dependent on aid from the government. Instead, they should generate their own resources to meet their needs,” he said.

Responding to a question, Mr Rathore said the government had also prepared a mechanism to put to rest a widely prevailing impression that the LG&RD schemes were meant to accommodate political workers, instead of being executed on the ground.

“Now funds would be disbursed on the basis of ‘work done’ in a visible contrast to the earlier practice of advance withdrawal of funds,” he said, adding a mobile phone application would also help the higher authorities to conduct physical verification of schemes.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2024