PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has expressed its inability to allocate development funds to local bodies in the province, citing financial constraints as the reason.

This message has been communicated to local body representatives by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur during a meeting here on Tuesday, according to a participant.

He told Dawn that the meeting was called to discuss amendments to the Tehsil Local Government Rules of Business, 2022, proposed by local body members as well as their other issues.

Mayor of Mardan city Himayatullah Mayar told Dawn that two tiers local government system comprising tehsil and village and neighbourhood were installed in two phases of elections held in Dec 2021 and March 2022, respectively.

CM discusses LG issues with tehsil council heads

He said that the government was bound by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act, 2013, to allocate 20 per cent of the funds from the Annual Development Programme for the development schemes of local bodies.

“In view of the 20 per cent share in ADP funds, our [local bodies] share in the financial year 2022-23 comes to Rs33 billion, Rs34 billion in 2023-24 and Rs27 billion in the current 2024-25, but the provincial government has not released a single penny out of our cumulative share of Rs94 billion since our installation,” he said.

The mayor said the denial of development funds had literally brought the municipal and social services of local bodies to a standstill, with the poor people being the ultimate sufferers.

He said the unavailability of funds had also affected the performance of devolved departments.

The meeting was attended by local government minister Arshad Ayub, officials of the local government and other relevant departments, according to an official statement from the Chief Minister’s House here.

The participants included a delegation of the elected local body representatives, including tehsil council chairmen Inamullah of Mathra, Azizullah of Lakki Marwat, Shah Khalid of Landi Kotal and Hafeezur Rehman of Hasankhel, and Abbottabad mayor Sardar Shuja Nabi.

They discussed the proposed amendments to the Tehsil Local Government Rules of Business, 2022, proposed by local body representatives, and agreed to almost all of them in principle.

The amendments will now be tabled in the provincial cabinet for approval, according to the statement.

The participants also decided that a meeting would be held to address other legitimate demands of the local body representatives.

On the occasion, the chief minister said the approval of those amendments would empower local governments, making them more effective.

He said the provincial government was committed to strengthening local bodies financially and administratively, aligning it with the vision of PTI founder chairman Imran Khan.

“Empowering local bodies will enable them to address public issues at the grassroots level, benefiting both the provincial government and the citizens, so the current provincial government is taking priority steps to resolve issues faced by local representatives,” he said.

Mr Gandapur said that monthly remuneration and allowances for tehsil council chairmen had been increased from Rs30,000 to Rs80,000, while Rs466 million were recently released for village and neighbourhood councils in settled districts and Rs94 million for those in merged tribal districts.

He also said Rs548 million had been released for tehsil municipal administrations in settled districts and Rs33 million for those in tribal districts.

The chief minister said the government had approved Rs350 million for holding sports activities under local governments in tribal districts, while the provision of vehicles to tehsil council chairmen would be completed in the next few days.

He said substantial funds had also been released to clear outstanding dues of local bodies. The visitors appreciated the chief minister for addressing their concerns and announced the cancellation of their call for a protest on October 30.

Published in Dawn, October 27th, 2024