Punjab govt restores LG Act of 2019

LAHORE: The Punjab government has restored the Local Government Act 2019 after the Local Government Ordinance 2021 expired on June 8, 2022.

According to a notification issued on Sunday, the commissioners will be administrators at divisional level. Administrators at the district level have also been appointed. . The PTI Punjab government had prepared a draft of Local Government Act 2021, but could not table the bill in the Punjab Assembly as it had planned to amend it.

The PTI government had planned to table the bill in the assembly after the budget, but it dissolved after its federal government was ousted through through no-confidence vote. As per the Local Government Amendment Act 2021 draft, the province would have 11 Metropolitan Corporations, 109 Municipal Committees, 125 Town Committees, 35 District Councils, 260 Urban and 35 Rural Governments. In the draft, neighborhood councils, village councils and panchayat system was introduced. The local bodies’ election will be held on party basis. Moreover, the mayor and heads of Municipal, Town Committee, Village Council and Neighbourhood councils will be elected through direct election.

The Metropolitan Corporation of Lahore would consist of 75 members, out which 45 would be general councillors, while 25 would be on reserve seats including two on traders’ seats, one on senior citizen seat, four on youths seats, six on farmers’ seats. Ten seats are reserved for women.

A local government of the population of 5 to 10 million would have 63 members, 1.1 to 5.5 million 56 members, 500,000 to 800,000 42 members, 250,000 to 500,000 35 members and 50,000 to 125,000 would have 15 members.