CHITRAL: Members of Chitral tehsil council have expressed their resentment over the ‘apathetic’ attitude of the provincial government towards the elected representatives of the local bodies, depriving them of financial and administrative authority.

During a two-day session, which concluded on Friday, the councillors deplored that they were toothless before the ‘unbridled’ bureaucracy.

They lamented that the district administration did not bother to contact the chairmen of village councils while compiling the lists of the persons affected by natural disasters this year with the result that the relief goods went to the undeserved people.

The councillors alleged they were also bypassed in the execution of the development projects in their respective constituencies.

The house also passed a number of resolutions asking the government to take concrete steps to curb the menace of drug addiction in the area.

They said even schools were not safe from drug peddlers, who were spoiling the young generation.

In another resolution, the members of the tehsil council asked the provincial government to enhance the share of Chitral in the octroi proportional to its population as currently the levy was based on the population census of 1981.

The councillors also approved a proposal to enhance the service charges of water bills and bus stand, which had been fixed three decades ago and needed enhancement.

Speaking on the occasion, tehsil chairman Shahzada Amanur Rehman said that the house should ponder over ways and means to broaden its income sources so that the tehsil municipal administration could be made self-reliant financially.

He also allayed the apprehensions of the house members about the interference in their affairs by the members of the provincial and national assemblies, saying the roles and responsibilities of both were well-defined.

No woman councillor attended the session on the first day, while on the second day a woman councillor, Shaheena Bibi was in attendance, but she did not take part in any debate.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Mufti Zameer, Manzoor Ahmed Advocate, Unnat Baig Kalash, Abdul Haq, Sajjad Ahmed Khan, Muneer Ahmed Charwelu, Nawab Khan, Ijaz Ahmed and Ameenur Rehman.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2024