From Abid Usman
LAHORE: The committee constituted by Prime Minister Imran Khan for the finalization of the new local government (LG) system in Punjab will forward its recommendations next week.
The committee on the new local government (LG) system in Punjab has finalized its recommendations Sunday that will be forwarded to the premier next week. The committee finalised recommendations for the establishment of metropolitan zones, district councils and the procedure of elections for mayors, district nazim and others.
According to the recommendations, 11 metropolitan areas will be established across Punjab under the new local government system. Sialkot has been given the status of a metropolitan in view of its global importance, whereas, Gujrat will also be declared as a metropolitan.
A metropolitan will comprise nine divisional headquarters and the upcoming LG elections will be held on 25 district councils across the province, whereas, the provincial government will go for neighbourhood council, village council and tehsil council system. The election of metropolitans’ mayors and district nazim will be held on party basis, whereas, the polls for different positions of neighbourhood and village councils will be organised on the non-party basis.
A village council will be comprised of 10,000 to 20,000 population while a neighbourhood council will be established on the basis of 15,000 to 20,000 population. It has been recommended to establish the panchayat system alongside the village council in which the chairman of the village council will be elected by the members of the panchayat council’s members.
Agencies said that prominent personalities of village communities will get their representation in the panchayat council that will be responsible for taking care of different administrative matters including cleanliness, street lights, schools and minor disputes. Moreover, the panchayat council will also be given powers to impose minor taxes. Another recommendation was tabled for giving representation to the elder citizens in the neighbourhood and village councils.
However, towns will be established instead of neighbourhood councils in Lahore Metropolitan Corporation and mayors of the towns will be elected directly.
Earlier on Friday, PM Imran Khan had chaired a meeting to devise a strategy for local government elections in Punjab province besides also reviewing the political and governmental issues in the province.
