LAHORE: Pakistan has failed for more than seven decades to establish an empowered, durable and democratically accountable third tier of government, while provincial governments have systematically withheld political, administrative and financial authority from elected local bodies, says a new report by a task force on local governance.
The report, prepared by the BNU Centre for Policy Research (BCPR), in partnership with the Sanober Institute, Islamabad, concludes that the failure is primarily political and structural rather than technical, with members of the national and provincial assemblies having a vested interest in retaining development funds and political influence that could otherwise shift to empowered local governments.
The Task Force on Reforms in Local Governance in Pakistan, which deliberated from January to June 2026, says none of the provinces has implemented Article 140-A of the Constitution in a sustained and constitutionally compliant manner. The provision, inserted through the 18th Amendment in 2010, requires provinces to devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to elected local representatives.
It identifies a recurring “zero-sum mentality” among higher tiers of government, manifested through parallel administrative structures, appointment of bureaucrats as local administrators after expiry or dissolution of councils, lack of guaranteed fiscal transfers and frequent changes in local government laws.
Report flays Punjab for violating LG law, transfer of urban service delivery to companies, authorities
The report says the fiscal position of local governments has deteriorated sharply. Their share of total government spending nationally declined from around 10pc in 2005 to less than five percent in 2024. Of the Rs9.2tr in federal transfers projected for the provinces in FY2026-27, only Rs1.8tr is being passed on to local governments – less than 20pc.
The task force notes that around 80pc of local government budgets are consumed by salaries, leaving only 20pc for development expenditure. It says local governments also lack meaningful control over major sources of revenue, while provincial finance commissions remain either non-functional or subject to provincial discretion.
The report singles out Punjab’s local government system for particular criticism. It says the Punjab Local Government Act 2025 was found, by the task force, violating Article 226 through its rejection of secret ballot for councils above the union council level, while indirect elections for mayors and deputy mayors and the absence of a guaranteed minimum fiscal allocation further weakened local autonomy.
It also points to Punjab’s transfer of urban service delivery to more than 50 provincially controlled companies and authorities, saying these parallel structures operate alongside, and in practice above, elected local governments.
According to the report, Punjab has enacted several local government laws since 2013, with repeated changes becoming a pretext for delaying elections through fresh delimitations. The province has remained without an elected local government tier for extended periods since January 2022.
The task force says bureaucratic control is another major obstacle, with provincial and central civil servants occupying local administrative positions without being directly accountable to elected local representatives. It recommends transferring BPS-16 and below employees of devolved departments, along with their salary and allowance budgets, to local government control.
The report proposes constitutional amendments to give Article 140-A the same specificity and enforceability that Article 160 provides for the National Finance Commission. It also recommends a model local government framework through the Council of Common Interests, direct elections, fixed and judicially protected terms, clearly defined functions, rule-based fiscal transfers and greater own-source revenue authority.
It argues that local government reform should be pursued alongside, rather than as an alternative to, demands for new provinces. Until political consensus emerges on the creation of additional provinces, the report says, the constitutionally mandated third tier should be strengthened.
The task force recommends placing education up to matriculation, primary and secondary healthcare, water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, local roads and community-level social welfare primarily under local governments, while leaving functions requiring a wider administrative footprint to provincial governments.
It also calls for directly elected mayors for major urban centres, greater authority for them over development authorities, water and sanitation agencies and mass transit systems, as well as digital platforms for property taxation, building approvals, complaints and public disclosure of budgets and development schemes.
The report concludes that without enforceable constitutional and fiscal safeguards, local government will remain vulnerable to the political calculations of provincial governments and legislators, leaving citizens without a credible and accountable institution responsible for basic services.
Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026
