PESHAWAR, Sept 14: The NWFP government has pointed out deficiencies in the Local Government Ordinance 2001, requesting the Centre to evolve a uniform policy in this regard, calling upon it to resolve issues pertaining to the district government system, a senior government official said.
“The Frontier government has ... requested the Centre to ... convene a meeting of the four chief ministers, local government ministers, secretaries and chairman NRB. The meeting must be presided over by president or prime minister to deliberate on major issues including the tug-of-war between the union council Nazims and members of assemblies,” said the source.
“The provincial government is yet to receive a response from the NRB,” he said, adding that the Centre had been requested to deliberate on issues through consensus, adding that rules should be followed by all federating units.
The official said that the meeting with the NRB officials in this connection, scheduled to be held on Aug 15, could not be held because of unspecified reasons.
Sources said that following the directives of President Gen Pervez Musharraf, the NWFP government had addressed demands of the 24 district Nazims.
The provincial government, he said, had already withdrawn amendment in the District Government Rules of Business-2003, which had caused differences between the NWFP government and district Nazims.
Sources said that despite the NWFP government’s move to follow the LGO, the Centre’s attitude was still harsh towards it.
Officials said that local bodies’ representatives frequently challenged the provincial government’s writ, unduly exploiting the situation as different parties were in power in the Centre and the province.
“District Nazims ... frequently bypass the council members and do not allow the trickling down of powers at grassroots level. The Nazims are assuming a political role that may harm the system in the longer run,” said the official dealing with the local bodies.
He said that the NRB had been informed about the district Nazims’ failure to fulfil their responsibilities under the LGO, specially in connection with controlling the law and order situation.