KARACHI, March 27: Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim said on Sunday that the devolution system introduced in Pakistan would gain further strength with the passage of time and would help resolve the problems being faced by people at grassroots level.

Dr Arbab was talking to a 37-member delegation of Indian local government representatives, led by Mr K. P. Srivastava, at the Chief Minister’s House.

Mr Srivastava apprised Dr Arab of the functioning of national and state finance commissions in India and the multiple criteria for the distribution at the union-states, inter-states and state-local governments levels.

He said that resources were trickled down to lower tiers of the government without forcing any state to compromise on its autonomy.

In many Indian states, he said, assembly seats were reserved for tribal people, women and scheduled caste, and people from these segments were allowed to contest in direct elections. The number of such seats varied according to the population of the states.

He told Dr Arbab that the Panchayat system in his country had been functioning effectively. In many state, the system had been introduced soon after the independence. He pointed out that the uninterrupted political process in India had greatly helped in strengthening the system and creating people’s confidence in it.

The visiting delegation answered many questions raised by the chief minister about the functioning of the Panchayat system.

The Indian government’s measures towards integrating urban and rural population across the country were also discussed during the meeting.

Earlier, welcoming the delegation, Dr Arbab expressed his optimism that the frequent exchange of visits, not only at official level but also at unofficial level, would go a long way in resolving outstanding issues between the two countries and ushering in a new era of friendship and mutual trust. He said the two countries could learn a lot from each other’s experience in different fields.—PPI