LAHORE: PML-N leader and former mayor retired Col Mubashir Javed has criticised the distribution of food items under the Ramazan package among the needy through revenue staff and urged Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz to better engage former local body representatives.

“Before planning and launching such an initiative for the poor (registered as beneficiaries/members of the Benazir Income Support Programme-BISP), the government should have consulted the elected local body representatives who are well-known to the public at large, especially the poor ones, at the grassroots level,” the former mayor deplored while talking to Dawn on Friday.

According to Mr Javed, he, along with several local council members, fought a legal battle with the PTI government after the latter unlawfully dissolved/suspended the elected local governments in Punjab, which had a huge number of councillors etc not only in Lahore but also in all other districts of Punjab.

First the Supreme Court delayed the petitions seeking restoration of the local body system and finally restored the system.

“Despite all this, we were not allowed to sit in our offices, thus couldn’t serve the masses due to inappropriate behaviour of the bureaucracy,” he maintained.

He said since the elected local government representatives were an integral part of any political party, they were the main source to know pulse of the public at large regarding their liking or disliking at the local level.

He said an important reason behind party candidates’ defeat in various constituencies in Feb 8 elections was that the PML-N didn’t fully activate its former elected council members.

“The main reason behind the win of the PTI in KP and the PPP in Sindh was that their local public representatives were very much active. But, in Punjab, despite all odds, the local councillors worked very hard, especially in Lahore,” he argued.

The ex-mayor said since the initiatives like the Nigahban Package always boosted the party’s popularity at the local level, those party leaders working at the grassroots level should always be given preference in the implementation process.

Showing his reservations about the commitment of the revenue staff, Col Javed said he did not expect transparency in the distribution process. He claimed the BISP data about the deserving families was also not free from wrong entries.

He said a majority of rural public did not know about the Nigahban package. He said when the DC or AC could call local representatives in various meetings on peace and other issues, why they didn’t bother to engage them in such a huge task.The former mayor urged the CM to ensure package distribution by involving local representatives.

Answering a question, he said he had also conveyed his observations to the PML-N leadership.

“I have also asked the PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif to make efforts for getting local body elections. The local governments were dissolved on May 4, 2019, by the PTI government. However, the apex court restored the system on March 25, 2021, while hearing a writ petition (48/2019).

In its judgment, the court restored the entire local governments in Punjab in 2021. But the Buzdar government did not let them enter their offices.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2024