MULTAN City News

‘Powerless LG system hurdle to development, progress’

From Our Correspondent

MULTAN: A large number of people, including newly-elected LG representatives, in a seminar have criticised the government for making the LG system powerless and ineffective.

The seminar was organised by an NGO here on Sunday. The participants said that the powerless LG system was a key hurdle to regional development, progress and solution to the core issues. They urged the government to empowerment the LG system so that it could play a key role in the improvement and betterment of the district government departments.

The participants identified 25 core issues, including unavailability of potable water, poor sewerage and drainage system, dilapidated roads and streets, environmental pollution, inadequate and substandard health facilities, encroachments, increasing crime rate, corruption, electricity and gas loadshedding, inadequate and substandard education facilities, terrorism and extremism, unorganised urban influx, calamities, lack of people’s participation in planning, unequal distribution of resources, adulterated pesticides, gender injustice, lack of women participation in decision making, ineffective solid waste management, inflation, insufficient quota for disabled persons in jobs, substandard medicines and powerless local government system.

They constituted a 47-member steering committee consisting of UC chairmen, vice-chairmen and councillors and representatives of different associations. The participants, who voluntarily presented names for steering committee, include Noor Jahan, Muhammad Yousaf Ansari, Fauzia Hamad, Naila Imran, Rani Baji, Manzoor Ali Ansari, Sheikh Muhammad Rafiq, Muhammad Salim, Sufi Siddique, Khursheed Khan, Muhammad Husnain Khokhar, Asim Muhammad, Muhammad Ali Khan, Abdul Hafeez, Shafqat Hussain, Muhammad Ramzan Ansari, Sheikh Mushtaq, Maqbool Hussain Ansari, Muhammad Rashid, Yousaf Nadeem, Habib Bokhari, Zia Haider Gilani, Nadeem Bhatti, Malik Rang Ali Khokhar, Farasat Ali, Muhammad Altaf, Asif Nawaz, Muneer Ahmad, Rana Ibrahim, Hafiz Muhammad Zafar Qureshi, Asad Ali Ansari, Jasmshed Abbas Khokhar, Haji Mushtaq Ahmed, Ghazala Bibi, Anayat Hussain, Chaudhry Qaisar Gujjar and Mehmood Gujjar.

The UCs chairmen, vice-chairmen and councillors and representatives of different associations Rao Mazharul Islam, Maqbool Hussain Ansari, Khalid Pervez, Mushtaq Ahmad, Khursheed Ahmad Khan, Nasir Saeed and others also spoke on the occasion.