Local Government Assignment

7/28/2019 Local Government Assignment

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DEVOLUTION PLAN 2000

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

S.No CONTENTS Page No.

1. Abstract 2

2. Introduction 3

3. Devolution Plan By Pervaiz Musharraf 5

4. Musharrafs Seven Point Agenda 5

5. Five Fundamentals of Devolution Plan 66. 5 Ds of Devolution 7

7. Objectives of the Devolution Plan 9

8. Features of the Devolution System 10

9. Issues and Challenges Faced in Implementation of the

Devolution Plan

11

10. Recommendations 14

11. Conclusion 16

12. Personal View 17


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ABSTRACT:

This article is meant for the fulfillment of the course work requirement for the

Masters of Public Administration, as a mandatory component of LOCAL

GOVERNMENT COURSE. The article focuses on the Devolution Plan presented

by Pervaiz Musharraf in 2000. In 1999, Pervaiz Musharraf being the chief of army

staff overthrew the government of the elected Prime Minister, Mian Muhammad

Nawaz Sharif in a military coup and took over the administrative control of the

country and imposed Martial Law for the fourth time in the history of Pakistan.

This military regime introduced a plan which aimed at national reconstruction

through devolution of powers and decentralization and establishing a local

government system. This study is an overview of devolution in Pakistan introducedin 2001 with the election to local governments and promulgation of a local

government ordinance.

This study examines the existence of local government system in Pakistan and

analyses the process of devolution by viewing its political, administrative, fiscal

and development components. It highlights the challenges and issues faced in

implementation of this plan and specify the extent to which its implementation

succeeded in achieving the desired goals. Besides educational point of view, this

article aims at providing an insight to what actually laid the foundation of thisDevolution Plan, what were the objectives and how it played its role in success of

Pakistan.


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INTRODUCTION:

Decentralization, or decentralizing governance, refers to the restructuring or

reorganization of authority so that there is a system of co-responsibility between

institutions of governance at the central, regional and local levels according to the

principle of subsidiary (i.e. the local authorities will have the authority and

responsibility to address all problems that are, in their determination, within their

ability to solve), thus increasing the overall quality and effectiveness of the system

of governance, while increasing the authority and capacities of sub-national levels.

Devolution is a global phenomenon; it along with fiscal and administrative

decentralization is the transfer of resources and power to lower level authorities,

which are independent of higher levels of government and are somewhatdemocratic to a great extent.

Countries across the world are adopting decentralization for two reasons basically:

Maintenance of political stability More effective and efficient service delivery.

Decentralization is expected to achieve higher economic efficiency, better

accountability, and larger resource mobilization, lower cost of service provision

and higher satisfaction of local preferences. According to this devolving resource

allocation decisions to locally elected leaders can improve the match between the

mix of services produced by the public sector and the preferences of the local

population.

Decentralization is expected to achieve higher economic efficiency, better

accountability, and larger resource mobilization, lower cost of service provision

and higher satisfaction of local preferences. According to this devolving resource

allocation decisions to locally elected leaders can improve the match between the

mix of services produced by the public sector and the preferences of the localpopulation. Decentralization is thought to be particularly beneficial for rural

development in disadvantaged jurisdictions. It usually entails a net transfer of

fiscal resources from richer to poorer areas and leads to an increase in the quantity

and quality of expenditures in these areas. Pakistans experiment in

decentralization, termed devolution due perhaps to its political component,

basically aims at bringing the abovementioned benefits to its population.


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After overthrowing the democratic government in 1999, the military government

immediately announced a seven point agenda.

This agenda aimed at focusing upon addressing the so called institutional crisis and

to advance upon national reconstruction.

The seven point agenda included the following:

i) Rebuilding national confidence & morale;ii) Strengthening the federation while removing inter-provincial

disharmony;

iii) Reviving and restoring investor confidence;iv) Ensuring law and order and dispensing speedy justice;v) Depoliticizing state institutions;vi) Devolving power to the grass root level;vii) Ensuring swift and across the board accountability.


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THE DEVOLUTI ON PLAN 2000 BY PERVAIZ MUSHARRAF

MUSHARRAFS SEVEN POINT AGENDA:

I. Rebuild National confidence and morale

We are not a poor nation as is generally perceived. In fact, we are rich. We have

fertile land that can produce three crops a year. We have abundant water to irrigate

these lands and generate surplus power. We have gas, coal, and vast untapped

mineral resources and above all, dynamic and industrious people. All these await

mobilization. We have! Only to awake, join hands and grasp destiny for Allahhelps those who help themselves.

II. Strengthen Federation, remove Inter-Provincial disharmony and restore

National cohesion

Cementing the federation is vital. This will be achieved through devolution of

power, from the Centre to the .Provinces and from the Provincial to the local

governments as actually enshrined in the Constitution.

III. Devolution of power to the grass root levelOur Government sees devolution as the first step towards the re-building and the

restoration of the peoples faith in the Government of their own country. With this

new concept of elected community governments, an unprecedented transfer of

power will take place from the elite to the vast majority. The people themselves

will become empowered to take charge of the foundation of democracy and of the

system by which they are governed.

IV. Revive Economy and restore Investor confidence

He urged at the need of rebuilding of investor confidence through stability and

consistency in economic policies and economic security. The objective is to

encourage local investors, overseas Pakistanis and foreign investors:

1. Increase domestic savings

2. Carry out pragmatic tax reforms


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3. Turn around state enterprises towards profitability

4. Boost agriculture and revive industry

5. Strict austerity measures

V. Ensure law and order and dispense speedy justice

The basic ingredients to check corruption, I feel, are firstly developing strong

institutions and systems, which avoid any discretionary authority and powers to

anyone. Improving the qualities of law enforcement agencies is another area to

check corruption. Sometimes you find yourself very helpless to deal with situations

because your law enforcement agency is unable to deliver on whatever you are

thinking, so therefore, the quality of law enforcement agencies is extremely

important

VI. Depoliticize State institutions

The political structure we plan involves a trilateral distribution of responsibilities

between the Centre, the Provinces and the district representing the basic (lowest)

rung of democracy

VII. Ensure swift and across the board accountability

The process of accountability is being directed at those guilty of plundering and

looting the National wealth, and tax evaders. It is also directed towards loan

defaulters and those who have had their loans rescheduled or condoned. Theprocess of accountability will be transparent for the public to see.

FIVE FUNDAMENTALS OF DEVOLUTION PLAN:

While addressing the cabinet meeting on after the takeover Chief Executive and

Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf announced the decentralization

through Establishment of National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB). NationalReconstruction Bureau (NRB) has been tasked for framing policies for national

reenactment. The holistic approach of National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) was

supposed to reconstruct state institutions across the entire fields of governance.

The Local Government Plan 2000 was the first end product of National

Reconstruction Bureau (NRB), which was designed on five fundamentals:


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Devolution of political power, Decentralization of administrative authority, Decentralization of management functions, Diffusion of the power-authority nexus and

Distribution of resources to the district levels.

5 Ds OF DEVOLUTION PLAN


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This is known as Devolution Plan which was designed to meet the sincere

aspirations of the people, to be self-governed and their rights could also be

protected. It was expected that the new structure will create an empoweringenvironment in which the communities could take part and the process of

community participation in local government system would make the radical

changes in the spectrum of national politics. The ultimate result of this plan was

the promulgation of Local Government Ordinance 2000.

The elections under this Local Government Ordinance 2000 were held in August

2001. The main feature of these elections was that they were contested on non-

partisan basis.


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OBJECTIVES OF DEVOLUTION PLAN:

Restructure the bureaucratic setup and de-centralize the administrativeauthority to the district level and below.

Re-orientate administrative system to allow public participation in decisionmaking.

Facilitate monitoring of government functionaries by the monitoringcommittees of the local councils. Rationalize administrative structures for

improving efficiency.

Introduce performance incentive systems to reward efficient officials. Ensure functioning of the related offices in an integrated manner to achieve

synergistic effect and improve service delivery. Eliminate delays in decision-making and disposal of business through

enhanced administrative and financial authority of district and tehsil level

officers.

Improve administrative and financial management practices in the districtand management controls over operational units.

Redress grievances of people against maladministration through the office ofZila Mohtasib. The government functionaries will also be eligible to lodge

complaints against the unlawful and motivated orders of the elected officials.

Enable the proactive elements of society to participate in community workand development related activities.


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FEATURES OF THE DEVOLUTION SYSTEM:

In light of the Devolution Plan, the elections for the new local government systemwere held during December 2000 and September 2001. The Local Government

Ordinance was promulgated in August 2001.

Some of the features of this new local government system are:

Removal of the district administration system, one of the last holdouts ofthe colonial order and creation of three countrywide levels of governments

i.e. districts (Zila Councils headed by Zila Nazim), tehsils (taluqa in Sindh

and town in City Governments, headed by Tehsil Nazim), and unioncouncils (headed by Union Nazim).

Placing locally elected leaders in charge of out-posted bureaucrats. Reserving of one-third of seats for women and other marginalized groups

like peasants, workers etc.

Providing local councils with the right to obtain information ondepartmental operations and to sanction non-performance.

Allowing properly registered citizen groups to gain direct access to aproportion of the local councils development budgets.

Creating a municipal entity responsible for maintenance and developmentof basic municipal services such as water, sanitation, streets, lighting,

parks, and business regulation.

Distribution of financial resources to local governments through formulabased provincial fiscal transfers and decentralization of specified taxation

powers to enable local governments to effect credible development and

service delivery.

Creation of city governments in the provincial capitals with the possibilityof allowing others to join later.

The division as an administrative tier will cease to exist. The institution of Citizen Community Boards has been created to enable

the proactive elements of society to participate in community work and

development related activities in both rural and urban areas.


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ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACED IN IMPLEMENTATION

OF DEVOLUTION PLAN:

Role & Responsibilities:

The plan proposed no definite outline for the roles and responsibilities of Union,

Tehsil/Taluka and District Level councilors and members of governmental setup.

There were no definite set of responsibilities assigned to district/ Tehsil Nazims

and councilors once they were elected for their said posts, which gave rise to

frustration amongst them and resulted in non-deliverance of real spirit of the plan.

Capacity:

The elected members were not well equipped with knowledge, experience and

skills. They were not well informed about the new system and the true objectives

of the plan were not well communicated to them. Capacity has emerged as one of

the very important constraints on the functioning of the system.

Social Setup:

The social setup of communities based on cast, tribes and families was the basic

element of non-cooperation between the elected members of local government. Atthe same time, the expectations had been raised from the political set-up. This was

aggravated by the fact that the elections were also seen as first step towards

restoration of democracy in Pakistan under the military government.

Continuity:

At the time when the plan was introduced and the local government elections were

conducted the question that loomed large in the minds of the elected

representatives and the masses was regarding the continuity of this plan in the lightof the history of local government in Pakistan. Such an environment of uncertainty

was not very conducive for the smooth running of the system.


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Constraints to Work:

The elected councilors did not belong to rich segment of the society hence delayed

payments, stipends and transportation allowances hampered the speed and

efficiency of work. Smooth working arrangements were not given much thought.

Relationship between Three Tiers of Local Government:

There is ambiguity in demarcation of roles between the three tiers of local

government and distribution of development funds, which is creating confusion

among the councilors thus leading to constrained relationships. Although the

administration directly reports to the Councilors, many of them complain of

helplessness in dealing with the bureaucracy.

Relationship between Local, National & Provincial Governments:

With the arrival of elected national & provincial governments, the civilian

government announced development funds for the respective members without any

consideration to the district governments. This was viewed as interference in the

local government system and obviously created resentment for the local

governments. An institution called the Local Government Commission (LGC) was

to be established at provincial level as an oversight committee for the LGO onurgent basis. The purpose of the LGC was the resolution of disputes between

districts, between provincial departments and district governments, or between

District Nazims and District Ombudsman. However, these bodies established very

late (2003) and did not perform the designated feature.

Relationship between Councilors & Member Provincial Assemblies:

The councilors especially at Union and Tehsil/Taluka level are under influence of

MPAs which results in defeating thepurpose of grass roots approach.

Political Affiliations:

Local Government Elections were held on non-party basis but the councilors

elected had political affiliations and rivalry among the parties hampered the

progress.


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Qualification Disjoint:

There was a qualification disjoint between the literate and illiterate members,

which hampered in smooth implementation of new system.


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RECOMMENDATIONS:

Although the local government system set up under the Devolution Plan has lost its

significance today, the system could have been strengthened by considering the

following set of recommendations:

Government should have worked upon creating awareness amongst thepeople before implementation of this plan and before conducting local

government elections in 2001.

The government should have demonstrated the real political devolution by: Developing an acceptance level amongst the Provincial Governments

regarding the Local Government Ordinance before implementing itfully.

Holding local government elections on a party basis, with direct pollsfor district officials

Refraining from imposing political discipline on local officials andmisusing them for political ends such as partisan electioneering.

The responsibilities and the roles of the elected members should have beenclearly outlined with duties of each assigned in black and white.

The mechanism of accountability should have been strong enough to restrictlocal Nazims and councilors from misusing their powers.

District police should have been allocated more staff and resources. The overall mechanism of the flow of funds should have been smooth and

unhampered. This would have maintained the motivation levels of the

elected members.

Devolution of fiscal and administrative powers to the local units should havebeen ensured by giving district government greater control over budgetary

resources and increasing developmental allocations.

Active involvement of the political government in the affairs of the localgovernment should be avoided as this raises questions about the credibility

of the system.

Unless the state works at increasing the literacy rate the implementation oflocal government system could not be achieved.


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Through security reforms the policy makers should aim at delivery of justicethrough local government

Link support for devolution to progress on police reforms and providebudgetary support and other assistance to improve service incentives and

conditions and build capacity for investigation and prosecution functions.

The extent of powers at district level for both civil servants and the electedrepresentatives must be clearly defined. Both should be allowed to keep

considerable check on each other to avoid any misuse of power.


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CONCLUSION:

The political ups and downs of Pakistan have marked the history of the country

with a number of drawbacks. Country suffers greatly at the hand of political

instability. Alternate democratic and military regimes give rise to uncertainty in the

country. The policy makers and legislators have never really considered the

nations well being as their prime objective. This insincerity has led to the current

scenario where the country lacks any mature local government system essential to

ensure success of the country.

Each upcoming government puts aside all the initiatives of the previous regimes

without considering their benefits for the overall societal betterment. This practice

is the major reason behind the lack of political maturity within the country.


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PERSONAL VIEW:

It was claimed that the main objective of the introduction of this plan was to

establish a true local democracy however, in reality it was aimed at legitimizing

the military regime and to earn survival through winning the hearts of the people. It

also gave birth to an idea amongst people that this devolution of power from

federal unit to local level was an attempt to gain control over local units. Thus it

was believed to be an under covered form of centralized administrative control

with a label of devolution of power.

The significance of local government system and devolution of power to the grass

root level could not be undermined at any point. Currently local governmentsystems prevail throughout almost all of the developed countries. One could rightly

say that democracy in its true sense could not be achieved without the

establishment of local government system. The local government system plays

significant role in equipping people with handful of knowledge, experience and

skills required for learning the lesson of governance. They are trained to handle

affairs at higher levels.

Through devolution of power people at local level get a chance to indulge in

decision making. Their participation in governance increases and this bridges thegap between the government and the local people.

The failure of the devolution plan of 2000 mainly contributes to the low levels of

acceptance. The process of implementation of this plan underwent a lot of

regression from the civil society. It was believed to be a mere attempt of providing

a legitimized access of military powers to the local units so that the civil opponents

of this regime could be displaced.

If this decentralization of powers had been introduced with positive motives andthe real essence of local government system had been considered while its

implementation, this could have proved to be a milestone towards the success of

the country.

Documents

Local Government Assignment