Karachi to have 53 more UCs in next local govt elections

The Sindh local government and housing town planning department has announced addition of 53 new union committees (UCs) to the Karachi division.

The decision to this effect was taken to meet a longstanding demand of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM). After the addition, the number of UCs in Karachi has increased from 246 to 299. However, the new union committees would become functional after the next local government elections, according to the notification.

Therefore the next mayor of Karachi would be elected by the representatives of the 246 UCs in the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) City Council.

In the current local government structure, the number of districts of the Karachi division has increased from six to seven. Moreover, the districts have been divided into 25 town municipal corporations (TMCs), which further comprise different number of UCs.

Each TMC will have its separate elected council, which means that the city will have 25 TMCs’ elected councils as opposed to the previous LG in which it had six elected councils of District Municipal Corporations that now stand dissolved.

In the current local government structure, the city has a total of 246 UCs under 25 TMCs in seven districts. Another significant change made to the city government is that all the rural areas of the city have been made part of the KMC. According to the Sindh Local Government Act 2021, the city has no union council that earlier comprised rural areas of the city. The union councils of Karachi were not part of the KMC and they had a separate elected district council.