Evolution of LG System

7/29/2019 Evolution of LG System

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Evolution ofLOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM


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Early Period

Communities, mostly rural, left to manage their own

affairs

Panchayats the earliest form of local institutions

Comprised councils of elders which strove to meet

local needs and to administer justice

People were united through bonds of community

loyalties

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Early Muslim period

Country was divided into sarkars, parganas, towns and dehs

Deh or the village - Mir Deh

Mohallah in a town or city - Mir Mohallah and a city by a

Kotwal

Qazis to adjudicate disputes

Mohtasib kept watch over public morals

'Ombudsman' with powers to take corrective actions

All these offices appointive

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Mughal Period and After

System of local governance introduced by the

early Muslims followed during the Mughal

period (1526-1857)

British- a new intervention in the form of

reorganized district administration was

introduced

"Panchayats" went into disuse rapidly 16


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British Period Local government legislation on a wider scale started with the

Municipal Act of 1850

Law provided for the constitution of municipal committees at

the initiative of citizens

Act was extended to Punjab and Karachi in 1852

Transfer of authority from the East India Company to the

Crown under the Government of India Act, 1858

To meet political aspirations of people - introduction of local

government was necessary

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Punjab - establishment of municipal committees

taken up in 1862

Institutions were rather informal

Inhabitants were given the right to constitute wards

as they desired

Functions: drainage, water supply, lighting, street

pavement, sanitation, etc.

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British Period


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Punjab Municipal Act, 1867

Constitution of municipal committees with

power to levy taxes

Punjab Municipal Act 1873 - municipalitiesand towns were classified with varying powers

Municipal committees of the third class were

not independent

Comprised appointed members - take action

only with the approval of DC

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British Period


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Lord Ripon's Resolution of 1882, which inter

alia stated:

"It was not primarily with a view to improvement in

administration, that this measure is put forward and

supported. It is chiefly designed as an instrument of

political and popular education."

Advocated elected chairmen of tehsil, district

and municipal boards 20

British Period


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Punjab Municipal Act 1884 - committees were made

corporate bodies

Vested with powers to levy taxes

Appointment as well as election

Municipal committee headed by a President

Election subject to the approval of the government

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British Period


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Punjab Municipal Act was re-enacted in 1891

Under the Bombay Municipal Act, 1884, 35

municipal committees were constituted in

Sind

Under the Indian Councils Act, 1892 - the local

government laws were refined further

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British Period


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Pace of development of rural local governments

increased after report of the Famine Commission of

1880 and Lord Ripon's Resolution of 1882

Punjab District Board Act 1883

Compulsory to constitute a district board in every

district

Members of the district boards could opt for an

elected or an official chairman

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British Period


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Rural areas - local government introduced in the

form of Chowkidari Act in 1856

Provided for watch and ward in local areas

Panchayats were appointed to collect rates for

meeting expenses of the Chowkidari system

District funds set up for the management of local

rate - levied as acess on land revenue

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British Period Rural Areas


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Fund was utilized for education etc. Managed by district officials

Punjab Local Rates Act 1871 - authorizing the

imposition of local rate Controlled by committees of officials and non-

officials

Local Rates Act of 1878 under which the ratesof taxes were enhanced

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Punjab Panchayat Act of 1939

Enhanced the powers of the members of

panchayats

Constitution of Panchayats continued to be

optional

Depended upon the initiative of the district

officers

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Punjab Municipal Act 1911 - a comprehensive pieceof legislation

Continued till its repeal under Municipal

Administration Ordinance 1960

Lahore Corporation Act 1941 - transfer of most of the

executive powers to an appointed Executive Officer

Sindh Municipal Act 1933

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British Period


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Royal Commission 1907

Royal Commission on Decentralization (1907)examined the reasons behind the failure of

self-governing bodies

Concluded it was due to: Strict official control

Excessive narrow franchise

Meager resources Lack of education and shortage of committed

persons

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Conclusions British Period and LG System With the advent of the British, local institutions

underwent far-reaching changes

Punchiyats went into disuse

Anglo-Saxon system of local government

introduced


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Local governments were formed in a top-down

manner in urban and rural areas

Extremely circumscribed functions

Members nominated by the British bureaucracy

District Committees formed by the District Officers

from amongst their mulaqatis

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Conclusions British Period and LGSystem


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POST INDEPENDENCE - LOCALGOVERNMENTS

Bureaucracy completely controlled local bodies

Local bodies were denied legitimacy by not holding elections

Where elections were held massive malpractices were

witnessed

1959 to 1970 Basic Democrats (BDs) were in control of local

Government Institutions

Political parties were not involved

BDs were used as their substitute


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Peoples Local Government Ordinance was promulgated in

1972

Punjab Local Government Act 1975 - which remained in force

up to 1979

No elections were held - affairs of Local Councils looked after

by Administrators

From 1971 to 1979 elected Local Councils did not exist

Affairs of Local Government were managed by the

Government officials 34



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Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner coordinated the

development process

Development work in the districts entrusted to District Councils

- Local Government Ordinance, 1979

District Administration continued to interfere in the activities of

the Local Councils



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SOME OF THE PROGRAMMES 1953-79

Village Aid Program(1953)

Rural Works Program (Basic Democracy 1960)

Integrated Rural Development Program

(IRDP)(1972)

People Works Program (1973)

Matching Grant Schemes(1981-82)

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BASIC DEMOCRACIES SYSTEM

AN OVERVIEW

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LGs POST 1958

First Martial Law in 1958

Elective Bodies (Disqualification) Order

promulgated

Applicable to any person who held any public

office or position including membership of any

elective body in the country

6,000 politicians and officials were

disqualified

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Basic Democracies Order, 1959 General Ayub established local governments

in the form of BasicDemocracies (BD)

BDs used to legitimize new unitaryPresidential Constitution (1962)

80,000 Basic Democrats Electoral College for

the election of President and national andprovincial assemblies

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LGs POST 1958


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BDs SYSTEM

Hierarchical system of four/five linked tiers

Lowest tier, the Union Council, covered a villagepopulation of 8000 to 15000 people

Comprised Basic Democrats elected on the basisof adult franchise

Other tiers - some members elected indirectly bythese Basic Democrats

Other official members nominated by the

Government Officials as Chairmen (ACs, Tehsildar, DC,

Commissioner)

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Bureaucracycontrolling authority

Power to:

Quash the proceedings

Suspend resolutions passed or orders made by any

local body

Prohibit the doing of anything proposed to be done

To require the local body to take some action

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BDs SYSTEM


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Basic Democracies Scheme not democracy -

in reality

Ayubs concept ofcontrolleddemocracy

Paternalistic colonial view ofguardianship

Basic Democracies system had a pronouncedrural bias in terms of representation and flowof resources

Rural areas given access to developmentresources through the Rural WorksProgramme

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BDs SYSTEM


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Union Council the most important tier

Each council had between four and fifteen elected

members

Each representative to the council elected by a

constituency of roughly 1000 persons

Appointed members - not exceeding "more than

one-half of the total number" of the elected

members DCs nominated43

BDs SYSTEM


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Total Union Council membership of 15 with10 elected members

Town and Union Committees in urban centersfilled in the same manner - appointments

made by Commissioner

Each Council or Committee elected its own

chairman44

Union Councils


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Union Councils

Union Councils were given developmental functions

Empowered to impose local taxes for local projects

Conferred judicial functions under:

Conciliation Courts Ordinance 1961

Arbitration powers in divorce proceedings

under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961

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Special Community Tax

..On the adult males for the construction of

any public work of general utility for the

inhabitants of the local area concerned

unless the local council concerned exempts

any person in lieu of doing voluntary labour of

having it done on his behalf."

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UC Functions

Health, safety and comfort of the inhabitants

Supervision of the operations of village police

force

Assist government revenue officials Responsible for agricultural, industrial and

community development

Carry out functions assigned by thegovernment or delegated by the District

Council

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Union Development Advisory

Committees

Work with the Councils as consultants

Composed of area representatives of

agricultural, industrial and community

development projects

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Union Councils

Council members hold office for five years

May be disqualified for:

Misconduct and persistent absence from meetings

If they became government officials

Had a pecuniary interest in affairs of the councils

DC could remove members he appointed

A majority vote of the next higher council may

remove elected members

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Tehsil Council

Above the Union Councils is the Tehsil Council

Tehsil- police, administrative and revenue

units

Chairmen of Union Councils and Town

Committees - ex-officio members of the Tehsil

Councils - representative members

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Additional persons are appointed

Appointees not more than the representative

members

No direct election by the people

Chairman of Tehsil Council was AC

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Tehsil Council


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Functions Tehsil Councils

Coordinating activities of the U.C. and T.C.

Carrying out of tasks assigned by the District

Council

Provide an outlet for the overflow functions of

the District Council

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Di t i t C il C iti


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District Council- Composition

Chairmen of the Tehsil Councils

Chairmen of Municipal Bodies

Vice-presidents of Cantonment Boards

Representatives of various government departments

in the district Members appointed by the Commissioner - half of

appointees chairmen of the U.C. and T.C.

Appointees > number of official members

Chairman of the District Council - DC

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District Councils - Functions

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Compulsory

Provision andmaintenance of primaryschools, libraries andhospitals

Agricultural, industrialand communitydevelopment

A long list of activities

relating to public safetyand welfare

Optional

Same areas of interestbut are less pressing intheir urgency

Coordinating body foractivities of all localCouncils within thedistrict

May recommend

solutions to recurringproblems - requiringdevelopment programs


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Divisional Council

Chairman - Commissioner

Composition:

Chairmen of District Council

Representatives of government departments

Municipal bodies and Cantonment Boards

An equal number of appointments made by the

Government coming from Chairmen of U.C.

Divisional Council is primarily a coordinating body

Proposals for development schemes passed on to the

Provincial Development Advisory Council

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Provincial Development Council

Advisory body

Composition: Heads of government departments in

the province

Appointees of the President on the

recommendations of Governor

1/3 members chosen from among the chairmen of

the U.C.

Development Council does not come under theofficial heading of "Local Councils

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Conclusions

Paternalistic Model

Bureaucratic Control

Regime Legitimacy Issue

Rural Urban Divide

Mix of elected and nominated members

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

1979

AN OVERVIEW

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Constitutional Provisions

The Constitution of the Islamic Republic ofPakistan (Article 7) recognizes local authorities

(with power to tax) as organs of the State

Article 32 provides that "The State shall

encourage local government institutions

composed of elected representatives of the

areas concerned and in such institutionsspecial representation will be given to

peasants, workers and women"

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT SYSTEM 1979 TO 2000 The 1979 system was introduced to establish a platform for

socio-economic development and to encourage local leadershipat the grass-root level in villages and urban areas, so that the

common man could get relief from his day to day problems.

Union and District Councils were provided for the rural areas

and Town Committees, Municipal Corporations and MunicipalCommittees for the urban areas. In Union Councils, 1,000 to

1,500 people elected one representative. The size of the Union

Council varied with the population of the area. The chairman

and vice-chairman of the Union Council were elected by the

council.

Elections for Local Councils were held regularly under 1979

Ordinance;79 to 1991 .


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The constitution of the Local Councils and its

total Membership after 1991 Election was as

under:-

Sr.No Name of Local Councils No. of Local

Councils

No. of

Members

a Metropolitan Corporation 1 156

b Municipal Corporations 7 495

c Municipal Committees 70 1848

d Town Committees 138 2161

e Union Councils 2472 43776

f Zila Councils 32 1807

Total 2720 5024


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Elections were required to be held in 1994. Following Local Councils

were constituted but due to rivalry between the Provincial and FederalGovernment (Wayne + Wattoo) (Benazir Bhutto), the Local Councils

were dissolved and new Elections were not held:-

a) Metropolitan Corporation, Lahore = One

b) Corporations = 07

c) Municipal Committees = 74

d) Town Committees = 135

e) Union Councils = 2485

f) Zila Councils = 34

Total = 2736


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Under the 1979 law, Government was not empowered to

dissolve the Local Councils without announcing the schedule

of fresh Elections.

Lahore High Court held that the Local Councils could

not remain under suspension indefinitely; fresh Elections

must be held within three months as envisaged under Section

159.

In view the above judgments, the Punjab Local

Government Ordinance was amended on 04.05.1994 to nullify

the effect of judgment. Accordingly, Section-26 (A) was added

in the Ordinance.


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By virtue of the provisions of Section-26 (a) the powers of

the Local Councils were usurped ; All powers and functions of

the Local Councils were to be exercised by the Administratorso appointed, till such time the newly elected representatives

were to be not inducted in to their offices.

The Deputy Commissioners were appointed as

Administrators of the Zila Councils and Independent

Administrators for Municipal Corporations.

The Additional Deputy Commissioners of the Districts as

Administrator of Municipal Committees ; Municipal Committees

other than District Headquarters were placed under respective

Assistant Commissioners.

The Project Managers of LG Dep't were notified as its

Administrators of Union Councils. These arrangements

remained intact up to 20.5.1998.


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Sr.No No. of Local

Councils

No. of

Members

a Metropolitan Corporation 1 301

b Municipal Corporations 7 765

c Municipal Committees 79 3062

d Town Committees 140 3142

e Zila Councils 34 3455

Total 261 10725

Elections to the above councils were held in may 1998; No

elections were held in 2870 Union Councils and the

Project Managers continued to act as Administrators.

The people of rural areas at grass root level were

deprived of their rights for over six years(1994-99)


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Elections for the Union Councils were not held due to

political reasons on the issue of multiple wards etc. The

Union Councils remained under the charge of Project

Managers.

The Local Councils which were elected were also

suspended on 15.10.1999,after having remained in action May

98 to Oct 99.


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PROBLEMS FACED BY LOCAL BODIES There was lack of coordination between nation building

departments and local councils, affecting their resource

mobilization capability.

Taxes of local councils were auctioned ;collecting by

contractors, resulted in Leakages and harassment to public.

Collection of taxes levied by Union Councils depended upon

the efforts of their paid Secretaries. These employees wereextremely under-paid and had very little facilities which hampered

their effectiveness.

Both District and Union Councils were empowered to levy

taxes in rural areas but some of their taxes over- lapped which

caused confusion and also affected the pace of collection of localtaxes. For example, the District and Union Councils had common

levies such as tax on annual rental value of buildings and lands,

market fees, fees at fairs, agricultural shows, industrial

exhibitions etc., fee for slaughtering of animals, fees for licenses,

tolls on roads and bridges and so on.


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The audit of local councils was carried out by the

Local Fund Audit but the objections of the auditors werenot removed by the local councils and in some cases

inordinate delays occurred in their removal. Lack of

financial discipline on the part of local bodies rendered

resource mobilization meaningless.

There were a number of taxes for which local bodies,

both urban and rural, had been empowered but these had

not been imposed by the local councils due to some

practical area problems. If the taxes permissible under the

statutes were imposed by local bodies, the financial crisis

which many local councils were facing may have been

resolved.

PROBLEMS FACED BY LOCAL BODIES


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PROBLEMS FACED BY LOCAL BODIES

The local finances needed to be controlled

through correct budgeting, accounting,

careful purchasing and other methods of

fiscal control. Leakages in revenue, taxevasion, wastage and misuse of funds could

not be checked effectively. The Accountants

and Accounts Officer in most of the local

councils were not trained. This resulted infinancial losses to the local councilsconcerned.

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Local Government Ordinance 1979:

Under the 1979 law, similar rules and regulations were made

for urban and rural local councils. Women were given 10 %representation in the local councils. Various classes of the society

were given representation in the local councils, however these

members were indirectly elected by the directly elected councilors.

Age for the voter was fixed at 21 years, and the tenure of the

local council ,fixed for 5 years ,later reduced to 4 years. However,

under this law all the local councils used to operate separately.

Under this law, the government had the control over the local

Councils.

New LG 2001- Musharraf government came up with the idea

of new Local Government system 2001 The new Government as

per previous practice is keeping the LGs in suspension since

2009.


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Comparati e anal sis of LGP 2000 and Local Bodies


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Sr.No Local Government Ordinance

1979

Local Government Ordinance 2001

8 No Confidence Motion could have

been tabled against the Chairman and

vice chairman at any time.

Only once a year No Confidence Motion

against Nazim and Naib Nazim could be

tabled

9 In case of failure of the no confidence

motion, there was no mechanism foraction against the initiator of the

motion.

In case of failure of the no confidence

motion both members, the one whotabled the motion and one who

seconded it, will have to loose their

seats.

10 Local council did not have any control

over the police

For law and order the police has been

made to report to the Zila Nazim??

11 Public safety was a provincial

responsibility

Establishment of Public Safety

Commission at the union council level

12 Bye elections could be held during

any time in the year

Bye election are to be held only once in

a year

13 Accountability was a provincial duty Zila council will elect Ombudsman at

the district level????

Comparative analysis of LGP 2000 and Local Bodies

Ordinance 1979



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Sr.No Local Government Ordinance

1979

Local Government Ordinance 2001

14 Collective development work was

undertaken at the union council level

Union councils, Citizen Community

Boards and village councils are to play

active role for collective development

planning

15 Members of the local councils did nothave any proper forum to maintain

contact with each other.

The members of all local councils willhave forums to have contact with each

other.

16 Little peoples participation in

development planning

Opportunity for peoples participation in

development planning

17 Top down approach in planning Bottom up approach in planning


Ordinance 1979


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Documents

Evolution of LG System