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Article

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An attempt was made by the National Commission for Government Reforms (NCGR) to present a comprehensive package that proposed a strong district government system with specific focus on education, health and police. But the report could not be implemented due to the change in government. Subsequent governments did realise the need but remained preoccupied with other pressing matters. This time (2018-21), the focus was only on the federal government as the provincial governments plainly told us that after the 18th Amendment the federal government (although all the four provincial chief secretaries were members of the task forces that formulated the reforms) has no business in imposing the reforms, and they would design and deliver these themselves based on their peculiar conditions rather than follow the recommendations of the federal government (that has not happened so far). The recent decisions by the Supreme Court give some glimmer of hope that a strong local government system would emerge in the coming years – although one of the most desirable models enacted by the Punjab Assembly in 2019 has been diluted by the recent ordinance of 2021. It is hoped that legislators will insist on a reversion to the 2019 law and reject the 2021 ordinance under consideration.

Publication Source

The News

Publication Date

2-4-2022

Pages

1-4

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