Punjab government prepares final draft of new LG system

LAHORE: Punjab government has finally prepared the final draft of the Local Government Act, according to which the mayor will be elected on party basis in the local body elections.

According to the details, in the new local government system, the mayor has been directly appointed as the head of ten authorities besides local government.

According to the draft, elections for Mayor, Neighborhood, Village Council and Panchayat will be held on party basis while the new local government system will have 11 metropolitan corporations.

Similarly, the draft states that the houses of the Metropolitan Corporation Lahore will consist of 70 members, of which 45 members will represent the General Councilors and 25 members will represent the reserved seats.

The draft further states that the House will have two Traders Councilors, a Senior Citizen Councilor, four Youth Councilors, six Farmers Councilors and ten Women Councilors and the new local government system will have 109 municipal committees, 125 town committees and 35 district councils.

Similarly, the new local government system will have 260 urban and 35 rural local governments while it has been decided not to form Neighborhood Council in town committees.

According to the draft, a house with a population of 5 million to 10 million will have 63 members whereas the house with a population of 1.1 million to 5.5 million will consist of 56 members.

Similarly, the House, with a population of 500,000 to 800,000, will consist of 42 members and the house with a population of 250,000 to 500,000 will have 35 members while a house with a population of 50,000 to 125,000 will have 15 members.

The Punjab Minister for Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) Mian Mahmood Ul-Rasheed has taken the provincial members of assembly including ministers into confidence by briefing them about the new local government system.

On the other hand, along with the preparation of the final draft of the Act, the LG&CD Department has also prepared the working paper of the Master Plan of 260 Urban Local Governments in which the estimated cost was RS 499.39 million and the project will be completed in June 2024.

The LG&CD while giving its point of view in a letter states, “A legislation as an Act is underway for establishment of a Master Planning Authority as an autonomous body of LG&CD for the master planning of LGs at provincial level and ensuring its execution and updation at regular intervals (being a continuous process). The LG&CD department intends to shift the ADP scheme and funds to this Authority providing a revenue base at the outset and execution of the project through the authority,” letter states.

Shahab Omer
Shahab Omer
The writer is a member of the staff and can be reached on [email protected]

Must Read

Assisting Pakistan to deal with energy crisis top priority: US

WASHINGTON: US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller maintained that assisting Pakistan in addressing its energy crisis remains a top priority for the United States. During...