Punjab starts work on new LG law

LAHORE:The Punjab government has started work on the preparation of a new Local Government law. In this regard, the meeting of the committee established by the Chief Minister was held at the Civil Secretariat under the chairmanship of the convener and Provincial Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique here Friday.

Deputy Convener Education Minister Rana Sikandar, Special Assistant to the Chief Minister Zeeshan Malik, MPAs Chaudhry Iftikhar Hussain Chachar, Salman Naeem, M Ahmad Khan Laghari, Ghazali Salim Butt, Ziaullah Shah, Amjad Ali Javed, Sardar M Asim Sher Mekan, Ahmed Iqbal, Ghazanfar Abbas Chhina, Rais Nabil, Raja M Aslam Khan, Ghulam Murtaza, Kanwal Parvez Ch, Salma Butt, Secretary Local Government Department, Law Secretary and other members participated.

The committee has proposed for the first time to introduce a town committee between the union council and the municipal committee and to establish a metropolitan corporation for a population above five lakhs or for each divisional headquarters. A union council will be established in a population of less than fifteen thousand.

It is also proposed to form a town committee for a population of 15,000 to 50,000, a municipal committee for a population of 50,000 to 200,000 and a municipal corporation for a population of 200,000 to 500,000.

Addressing the meeting, Local Government Minister Zeeshan Rafique expressed dissatisfaction over the Local Government Act 2022 and said that new local government demarcations are necessary after the new census. He said that the Local Government Act of 2022 was not acceptable as it made the whole province into one unit instead of devaluating powers in the true sense.

The minister said that the smaller the size of the local government, the more powers will be transferred to the lower level. He said that Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz wants a long-lasting sanitation system in the villages as well, for this, the presence of a strong local government system is necessary.

Zeeshan Rafiq assured that the new law will be comprehensive and different from the previous one in all respects. He expressed his determination that he will give a local government system that truly delivers to the people. During the meeting of the committee, it was also considered to fix the term of local bodies for four years.

It was also recommended that local governments should be strengthened and a system of solving problems at the local level should be devised. Some members also suggested converting local bodies into administrative units. There will be further meetings of the committee before final recommendations are prepared.