Sindh Local Govt Amendment Act 2021
THE institution of ‘Local Government’ is the third tier of State besides ‘Federation’ and ‘Province’ in 1973’s Constitution.
The powers and functions of first two tiers are specified clearly in detail in the Constitution, whereas the functions of the third tier ‘Local Government’ were not clearly described in Article 140A of the Constitution and left for legislation to the mercy of governments in power in provinces.
The provincial governments are empowered to frame laws to prescribe the functions of local government to the advantage of their sweet will.
The authors of the Article 140A of the Constitution are under the moral obligation to specify at length the functions of the third tier of State as they did in case of first and second tier of government.
The third tier of State is also a part of the Constitution like the other two tiers and therefore qualified to receive the same approach.
The powers and functions of the second tier are equal in all four provinces of the country and its analogy should have been applied in case of the third tier of State.
The powers and functions of provinces were devolved vertically in the eighteenth amendment of the Constitution in the name of ‘Provincial Autonomy’.
Experience has shown that the benefits of provincial autonomy were not transferred to the grass root level as were required as a matter of natural justice and fair play. The powers devolved from Federation to the provinces are enjoyed by the provincial Cabinet and the Secretariat.
This is against the spirit of the devolution of power. The functions are to be transferred to the people on the street through the institution of local government. The elected local government is the institution which transforms the society from Bureaucracy to Democracy.
The amendment of 2021 in the Local Government Act of 2013 indicates that the leadership of provincial government has admitted that the original law was not in conformity with the provisions of Article 140A of the Constitution, but it has retained essential functions to be performed by the local government in the province.
It appears that the privileged class of political leadership is not willing to share the functions and powers with their own political workers belonging to the lower middle- or working-class segment of society. The latest amendment of Sindh Local Government Act has not implemented the provisions of Article 140A in letter and in spirit.
The financial and administrative powers envisaged in the Article have to be executed to the ‘Optimum’ meaning of ‘Power and functions of Local Government’ according to the analogy of the ‘terms’. It is appreciable that Sindh Local Government Act 2021 has made it mandatory for certain provincial departments to submit their reports to the Local Councils to the extent that their functions fall in the limits of each council.
The democratic values demand that the powers and functions of Local Councils are to be enhanced and subsequently delegated to the Mayor or Chairman of the municipal unit.
It is heartening to note that time and again, Sindh Cabinet Ministers felt the need of improvement to the Amendment Act.
We therefore suggest the enhancement of power and functions of local government Councils in the province as a whole and in Karachi in particular.
Here I would like to mention the noble words of father of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the civic address presented to him by then Karachi Municipal Corporation on 25 August 1947. Quote,” The responsibilities of Karachi and its Corporation have increased along with its importance. I hope that the Corporation will prove equal to the task.
There would be an extra strain on all phases of Corporation activities, but under the wise and able guidance of the city fathers, and with the cooperation of all the citizens, this would be, I trust, borne with alacrity and willingness.
he help of the Government, I feel, will be available in your difficulties and problems and I am sure that the authorities concerned will in time deal appropriately with the question of the power and status of the Corporation.” Unquote.
Let us perceive guidance from him in respect of the powers and functions assigned to Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. KMC deals with the ever increasing population of the Metropolis.
If we glance into the past, we find that the functions of building control had been entrusted to KMC till 1979 when SLGO was then promulgated.
From 1979 onwards till 2011, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board was under the financial and administrative control of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. The amendment suggested the position of Mayor city of Karachi as the co-chairman of KWSB which is not enough.
Similarly, Spencer Eye Hospital and Sobraj Maternity Home were administered by KMC even before the inception of Pakistan and continued to be under the control of KMC till the imposition of the Amendment Act in question.
Sarfaraz Rafiqui Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical and Dental College Hospital (KMDC) had been run by Karachi Metropolitan Corporation till the promulgation of the Amendment under reference whereas several dispensaries were also being managed by the local government in Karachi.
Abbasi Shaheed Hospital has also been managed by KMC for more than 4 decades since it was handed over to the municipal body by Prime Minister Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Moreover, the schools run by KMC should remain under its control. Thus, taking over the control of healthcare/hospitals and schools prescribed in the Amendment Act 2021 amounts to reversal of powers and functions from the third tier of State to the second one.
The reversal of the powers is against the spirit of the eighteenth Constitutional amendment which speaks for the devolution of power as was done in the case of the Federation to provinces.
It is therefore undemocratic and illogical. It is hoped that Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sindh government will take into account powers and functions enjoyed by KMC during the tenures of their able leadership of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Karachi.
