Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that it was the will of the PPP government that the Local Bodies’ elections were held in Karachi.
He said this while addressing a seminar on Local Government System, organized by Local Government Department here at the CM’s House here on Saturday. The seminar was attended by all the chairmen and vice-chairmen of local councils, deputy mayor Karachi and others.
He said that there was strong opposition to hold Local Bodies’ election in the city. “No doubt the law and order situation was precarious at that time, certain socio-political issues had emerged,” he said and added “it was political commitment and will of PPP government in Sindh that the local bodies’ elections became possible in Karachi”.
Syed Murad Ali Shah said that the present Local Government Act, 2013 has been passed by the Sindh assembly, and there was public will and wisdom into it, otherwise all the previous local government laws were imposed by the dictators with the objectives to strengthen their position by eroding the authority and writ of the provincial government.
He said that he was taking necessary steps to strengthen local bodies so that the problems could be solved at gross root level. “The Local Government Department mandate is to provide support to the local councils in the areas of administration, finance and human resource management.” He said the process of relocation of staff, distribution of assets and liabilities, distribution of OZT share and posting of staff in the newly-created local councils were at the completion stage”.
The chief minister clarified that the local councils have to work under the overall supervision of Sindh government as per legal framework provided in the act of 2013. He added that without financial viability, the local councils could deliver the desired results; therefore, they would have to take initiatives for the generation of resources and create efficient system of checks and balances internally.
He announced that the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) has been constituted and notified by the government. “The PFC is a recommendatory body and has the mandate to make recommendations to the government for distribution of funds and other matters relating to finances of the local councils,” he said.
Talking about finances of the local councils, the chief minister said that in the budget 2016-17, the Octroi & Zila Tax (OZT) share has been enhanced from Rs 47 billion to Rs 60 billion. “More than Rs 37.731 billion have been provided in ADP of local government,” he said and added, “More grants have also been provided for settlement of electricity dues and pension liabilities of local government.”
