Constitutional amendment for local bodies on the anvil

ISLAMABAD: The government is working on building consensus with the other political parties on a constitutional amendment to get protection for local bodies including their funding through respective provincial finance commissions (PFCs).

“We are working on consensus building with other parties on a constitutional amendment to get protection for local government and their funding through respective provincial finance commissions,” Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal confirmed when contacted by The News Thursday night.

Earlier, the planning minister on Thursday met a 15-member delegation of Local Council Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Mardan.

In the meeting, the federal minister was given a detailed briefing on the problems of local governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The delegation informed the minister that the local governments in the province had been paralysed for more than three years and the PTI government had given no administrative and financial support to 30,000 elected local government representatives in the province.

The minister said that the fate of the people of Pakistan depends on how effectively the local governments are solving the problems related to service delivery in health, education and municipal administration.

After the 18th Amendment, the powers given to the provinces have not been effectively devolved to local governments, he added.

He stated that if the powers given by the federation to the provinces are accounted for, the efficiency of local governments will become clear.

He emphasised that the local bodies should get the same support that the provincial bodies are getting.

The minister further said that the centralisation of powers in each province is at the upper level, which needs to be transferred to the lower level immediately. Education, health, and municipal services are in poor condition, he stressed.

He said that 50,000 local bodies were destroyed in Punjab during the PTI tenure which was a massive blow that affected public.

The delegation of the local government representatives told him that the elected local government representatives will also hold a protest outside Adiala Jail on December 17 to plead for their rights.

The federal government will fully support their constitutional and legal powers and rights, the minister said.