The Senior Minister said that two tier local bodies system will be introduced in Punjab and this system has been prepared while keeping in view of past experiences with an objective of resolving people's problems speedily at local level. "It will also undertake maximum developmental work with the consultation of local citizens and in this connection the new concepts of village and neighborhood councils, introduced in the new system, will play an important role in Punjab," he added.
He observed that no local bodies system can be viable without devolving financial and administrative powers, and in Punjab such powers will be delegated at local level. He claimed that in KPK the strong and empowered local bodies' network played an important role in implementing the PTI's mandate and it has proved that this system has an important role in strengthening democracy in a society.
The Senior Minister said that in 25,000 villages of Punjab, development work will start simultaneously, which will become a new face of Punjab. On the occasion, he constituted a committee comprising of all four provincial secretaries and director generals of local government departments, which will explore the new local bodies system in Punjab. He said that exchange of views on such important issues between the provinces plays an important role in building up consensus and this practice should be carried on in future as well.
Addressing the meeting, Baluchistan Local Government Minister Mohammad Saleh Bhotani stressed the need for local government institutions in far flung areas of Pakistan and added that underdeveloped areas should be targeted. He laid emphasis on inter-provincial consultation for preparation of new local bodies act. Bhotani invited all the participants to hold the next inter provincial meeting in Quetta.
KPK Local Government Minister Shahram Khan Tarkai in his speech said that local government institutions play a role of nursery in a democratic set up and added that in KPK 20 male and nine female candidates for the KPK Assembly were selected from different local bodies. He also called upon the participants to empower these institutions so that maximum issues could be resolved at local level. The senior officials from Sindh and Baluchistan, representatives of UNDP and GTZ and other delegates also expressed their point of views and gave a number of proposals for the improvement of local bodies system in future.