ISLAMABAD, Sept 12: Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday the government was committed to strengthening the local government system in the country, adding that more funds would be given to district governments for providing basic facilities tto the people and resolving their problems.

Speaking at a function organised by the Devolution Trust for Community Empowerment (DTCE) in connection with the launching of its second annual report 2004-05, the prime minister said the LG system had established its roots in the masses and the devolution had started bearing fruit.

The DTCE survey report revealed that the district governments had been facing obstacles to good performance due to lack of timely funding and bureaucratic and political interference, especially in transfers and postings.

Now the government had more resources which would be utilised for the betterment of the people, especially those living in remote areas, the prime minister said.

Mr Aziz claimed that the government would provide electricity to each and every village by the year 2007. “It is our promise to the people of the country that we will light bulbs in each and every village,” he added.

“We would use solar energy to provide electricity to those areas where there would be any problem in installation of grid stations,” he maintained.

He said a village near Chakri had been provided electricity through solar energy on an experimental basis. “This can also be done in other parts of the country,” he said.

Mr Aziz said more funds would be provided to district governments under the Khushhal Pakistan Programme (KPP).

He pointed out that allocation of huge funds and the pace of development taking place today had no match in the country’s history.

Under the KPP, the government would provide water filtration plant to each and every village to provide clean drinking water to the masses. “An amount of Rs1 billion has been allocated for this purpose,” he added.

The government, he said, had recently launched a Rs2.5 billion programme to combat hepatitis and other water-borne diseases.

He said the devolution of power at the grassroots level had empowered people so that they could solve their own problems by spending 20 per cent of the total cost of the project as remaining 80 per cent would be funded by the government.

Mr Aziz said the devolution of power was a part of reforms President General Pervez Musharraf had initiated six years ago in wide-ranging areas to empower the common man.

“It is encouraging that people have rejected the politics of agitation and violence and largely voted for moderate and enlightened candidates who take Pakistan forward,” he added.

He expressed satisfaction over the results of the social survey conducted by the DTCE saying the survey report had indicated satisfactory results of the devolution system. “The survey shows that we are moving in the right direction”, he added.

Nearly 54,000 households were surveyed, covering 424,841 people in all districts of the country.

The prime minister appreciated the role of Citizens Community Boards (CCBs) in changing the management at the local-level and addressing their problems on self-help basis.

“I have directed the NRB to ensure formation of CCBS in districts to enable people to resolve their problems by their own effort,” Mr Aziz said.

He welcomed large participation of women in the CCBs and assured that the government would continue to work for their empowerment to help them play their rightful role in the society and for the country.

The prime minister said Pakistan was a country of great potential and the government has to follow the formula of ‘help yourself’ for the country’s development.

“If Pakistan progresses, the entire Ummah will progress,” he said.

He the West had it had some misconceptions about Islam which was a religion of peace, love and brotherhood. “We want to rectify negative impression against Islam,” the prime minister added.

Speaking on the occasion, National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) Chairman Daniyal Aziz said the LG system had replaced the centuries-old system of district administration.

He said he had been working on the LG system for the last 14 years.