30% of ADP to go to LGBs: CM KPK

[SBD-3]

 

[waleed3601]

K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak PHOTO ONLINE

PESHAWAR:
Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said every village and neighbourhood council of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa will receive an annual grant of Rs2 million, in addition to its development budget, to strengthen the lowest tier of the state.

Khattak issued the directives during a meeting pertaining to the implementation of the devolution plan under the K-P Local Government Act 2013 on Monday. Since the act was passed by the assembly, very little has been said as yet about devolution under local governance or the rules of procedure which will allow the new councils and administrations to function.

According to a handout, LG Secretary Jamil Ahmad and Finance Secretary Syed Badshah Bukhari briefed the attendees in detail about implementation of the devolution and finances arranged for the plan, both before and after the LG polls. Later the home secretary, Muhammad Arif, elaborated on the security plan for elections.

Monday’s meeting took on a wide range of issues as polls are right around the corner and several things remain unaddressed, at least at the public level. According to the handout, Khattak asked the government to ensure fiscal devolution and capacity development of elected representatives following elections.

Money and governance

Issuing directives for the long due devolution plan, Khattak asked the LG and planning and development departments to chalk out rules and determine the jurisdiction of education, health and 13 other devolved departments under the LG legislation.

The CM said, “A good 30% of K-P’s Annual Development Programme funds will be diverted towards the district, tehsil and village/neighbourhood government set-ups at the ratio of 60, 30 and 10 respectively.” Each village council and its counterpart in the urban centres will receive Rs2 million outside of its development budget.

He added, “It is binding for district governments to complete all development schemes within two years.” Community policing, Khattak said, must be implemented in letter and spirit

He directed the establishment department to fill vacancies across district departments in the province.

The LG department was also ordered to construct buildings for town and tehsil municipal administrations. Khattak ordered the finance department to examine the estimated cost of Rs2.87 billion of the construction of new office space and provision of facilities such as support staff for local bodies.

Delayed action

Khattak asked all relevant departments to put in place the management systems, financial arrangements and logistics well before the creation of local bodies via elections. A “high-level committee” was formed to recommend amendments and remove ambiguities in the LG Act by June 3.

Khattak spoke about a “special communication campaign” which will help people understand the LG system, which, according to the CM, empowers them at a grass-roots level. “It makes them responsible for the uplift of their areas,” said Khattak about the local bodies.

Security measures for polls

Participants were informed that as many as 11 Pakistan Army companies, 8,100 Frontier Corps and Frontier Constabulary personnel, 2,500 of Azad Jammu and Kashmir police officials and 500 Gilgit-Baltistan policemen will be deployed across the province’s 11,117 polling stations.

Furthermore, 500 lady health workers will be posted as women police for three days at stations reserved for women only. The CM directed district administrations to identify sensitive areas in consultation with law-enforcement agencies, lawmakers and ask the LG department to request the ECP to set up separate polling booths for men and women in those areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19th, 2015.

 

[Sulman Badshah]

good step ...

 

[Hyde]

It sounds really good, it would not only potentially develop the whole of KPK but trickle the base of KPK workers in root. In last general elections, PTI was able to win seats in KPK due to the environment created at that time and the disappoint of the other parties but now it will be root-based politics if PTI is able to rise the leaders from the bottom leve, of each constituency.

Devolving the power is always a happy decision

 

[sadiqqs]

 

[ziaulislam]

It sounds really good, it would not only potentially develop the whole of KPK but trickle the base of KPK workers in root. In last general elections, PTI was able to win seats in KPK due to the environment created at that time and the disappoint of the other parties but now it will be root-based politics if PTI is able to rise the leaders from the bottom leve, of each constituency.

Devolving the power is always a happy decision

unlike the rest of pakistan the major cities and educated areas of KPK are opened to any political party. the very reason people form every party have came into power in KPK and won seats in major cities. be it PPPP, PML N, ANP, MMA, or PTI.
this isnt true for the periphery where there is strong hold of certain parties