Provinces Must Transfer Funds To Local Governments, Ensure Grassroots-level Empowerment: Ahsan Iqbal

Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday met a 15-member delegation of Local Council Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Mardan

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2024) Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday met a 15-member delegation of Local Council Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Mardan.

The Federal minister was given a detailed briefing regarding the problems of local governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a news release said.

The delegation told the minister that the local governments in the province had been paralyzed for more than three years and the PTI government had given no administrative and financial support to 30,000 elected local government representatives.

Ahsan Iqbal, while assuring the delegation full cooperation from the federal government, said that the federal government would ensure transfer of funds from NFC to local governments to help solve problems at the grassroots level of the province.

The federal minister said that the fate of the people of Pakistan depended on how effectively the local governments were solving the problems related to service delivery in health, education and municipal administration.

After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, he said, the powers given to the provinces have not been effectively devolved to local governments.

He stated that if the powers given by the federation to the provinces were accounted for, the efficiency of local governments would become clear.

Ahsan Iqbal emphasized that the local bodies should get the same support that the provincial bodies are receiving.

The federal minister further said that the centralization of powers in each province was at the upper level, which needed to be transferred to the lower level immediately.

"Education, health and municipal services are in poor condition," he stressed.

The federal minister said that 50 thousand local bodies were destroyed in Punjab during PTI tenure which was a massive blow that affected public.

The delegation told the federal minister that the elected local government representatives would also hold a protest outside Adiala Jail on December 17 to plead for their rights.

Ahsan Iqbal said the federal government would fully support their constitutional and legal powers and rights.