LAHORE - The Inter-Provincial meeting on Local Bodies held under the aegis of Punjab government on Thursday, stressed the need for giving financial and administrative powers to the Local Bodies at the grass-roots level.
Ministers of Local Bodies from KPK and Balochistan and high-ranking officers from Sindh attended the meeting.
Briefing the media after the meeting, Senior Minister Punjab Abdul Aleem Khan disclosed that two-tier Local Bodies system will be put in place in Punjab.
Abdul Aleem Khan added that basic issue was to undertake maximum developmental work with the consultation of local citizens for which new concepts of village and neighbourhood councils will play an important role in Punjab.
The Minister said that no Local Bodies system could be viable without assigning financial and administrative powers.
He added that these powers would be delegated at village level in Punjab.
He claimed that a strong and empowered Local Bodies network in KPK played an important role to bring the PTI in power yet again.
Aleem Khan said that in Punjab 30 per cent of Annual Development Programme will be allocated to Local Bodies institutions and every Council will be authorised to start its own developmental project.
Senior Minister said that in 25,000 villages of Punjab, development will be started simultaneously and it would bring new face for Punjab province.
Senior Minister appreciated the holding of such Inter Provincial meetings on Local Government issues and constituted a Committee comprising upon all the four Secretaries of Local Bodies Departments and Director Generals which would complete its findings within two months to formulate new Local Bodies system in Punjab.
Abdul Aleem Khan said that bilateral exchange of views on such important issues of Local Government within the provinces played an important role in building up consensus and this practice should be carried on in future as well.
Addressing the Inter Provincial Meeting on Local Bodies, Minister from Balochistan Muhammad Saleh Bhotani stressed that these institutions were needed in far-flung areas of Pakistan and those localities should be targeted where developmental targets had not been achieved so far. He said that this is high time to consult each for enactment of new Local Bodies act. Muhammad Saleh Bhotani invited all the participants to hold the next inter provincial meeting in Quetta.
Minister Local Government from KPK Shahram Khan Tarkai in his speech said that Local Bodies institutions played role of nursery for the democracy as 20 male and 9 female members of KPK Assembly were elected from different Local Bodies.
Representatives from all the four Local Councils also participated in the meeting besides Director Local Government Sindh, Secretary Finance Balochistan, Representatives of UNDP and GTZ.
