Local Government in Asia and the Pacific:
A Comparative Study

Country paper: Pakistan

  Description of the Country
  Evolution of Local Government
  Local Government Categories
  Local Government Functions
  Local Government Finances
  Personnel Systems
  Central-Local Links
  Public Participation
  The Way Ahead
  References

Brief Description of the Country and its National/State Government Structure

Demography

Created in 1947 following the partition of India, Pakistan has a population of 130 million, making it the seventh most populous country in the world. According to the 1998 census, 32.5 per cent of the population lived in urban areas, compared to 28.3 per cent in 1981. There is a higher male to female ratio in Pakistan compared to other countries. Overall population growth rate has fallen from 3.06 to 2.61 per cent.

Pakistan is a federation with four provinces - North Western Frontier Province (NWFP), Baluchistan, Sindh and Punjab - and some federally administered regions. Of the four provinces, Punjab is the most populous and contains more than half of the country's population. Baluchistan that has the largest land mass is the most sparsely populated province with around five per cent of the country's population. The federally administered areas constitute around three per cent of the population. Since a census has been overdue for more than seven years, it is not possible to give reliable estimates for urban/city size and growth. Karachi is Pakistan's largest city with a population of around ten million, with Lahore the next largest city with a population of six million. At least eight cities have a population of more than one million.

Table 1. One Million Plus Cities (1993)

Source: Asian Development Bank, Pakistan Urban Sector Profile, Manila 1993

Urban growth in one million plus cities has been far higher than that for the entire country. Small towns and medium sized towns have been the fastest growing settlements in Pakistan over the last two decades and have dominated the economy, politics and institutions of central, provincial and local government.

National governmental and political structure

Pakistan has a bicameral system of government, with a President as head of state and a Prime Minister elected by a 217 member National Assembly. Elections are to be held every five years according to the Constitution of Pakistan, with every Pakistani over the age of 21 entitled to elect representatives from each constituency. Concurrently, elections are also held to elect members of the four Provincial Assemblies for each province. A higher chamber, the Senate, is then elected on the basis of representation from each Provincial Assembly. The electoral college of the National and Provincial Assemblies together elects the President of Pakistan, who used to have extensive powers due to amendments in the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, but these have once again been reduced to primarily ceremonial duties. Local government plays no role in the elections of either the Senate, the President or in the political and electoral structure of Pakistan.

Figure 1. Political and Electoral Structure of Pakistan and Number of Members

Note: The Local Council structure and number of seats is based upon that for the 1991 Elections.

Pakistan's political and electoral system is loosely based on the principles from the Westminster model, which is prevalent in most countries that have been colonies of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. In Pakistan a thriving multi party system exists both at the national and provincial levels. Hundreds of parties exist in the political arena, with often scores of candidates contesting one assembly seat. However, since the return of democracy in 1988, only two parties have formed four national level governments, both twice each. They have also had recourse to form coalitions with other smaller parties to form a majority. At the provincial level, along with the two main national parties, a large number of smaller province-level parties have also shared power in each of the four provinces. Although party politics dominates heavily, independent persons as well as members of government at the provincial level have been part of the assemblies too.

Evolution of Local Government, its Legal and Political Background

Local governments have existed in the Indian subcontinent for many centuries, with the first municipal corporation set-up in Madras in 1688 by the East India Company. In 1842, the Conservancy Act which lead to the formation of sanitary committees for garbage disposal became the first formal measure of municipal organization which applied to the Bengal Presidency. In Karachi, the Board of Conservancy was established in 1846, while in Lahore and Rawalpindi, the Municipal Act was passed in 1867. Subsequent important events were Lord Ripon's Resolution on local self-government in 1882, which allowed for the provision of some elected members in municipal committees and proposed the establishment of rural local governments. The 1907 Decentralization Commission recommended the appointment of non-official Chairmen of municipal committees, a recommendation which was endorsed and extended further by the 1925 Simon Commission set up to assess the performance of local self-government. The 1935 Government of India Act allowed provincial autonomy and permitted provinces to frame legislation on local government systems.

In 1947 the areas that constituted Pakistan had few developed systems of local government and they were confined mainly to Punjab. Wherever local government existed, it was not based on adult franchise and its agenda and budget was under severe bureaucratic control of the Deputy Commissioner who played a critical role in determining its policy. The period 1958 to 1969 saw the erection of Pakistan's first Martial Law and the establishment of a military government as well as the development of an extensive elected system of local government. The military government after disbanding the provincial and national governments realized that there was a need for at least a resemblance of involvement of the people in their own affairs. This gave rise to the Basic Democracies System providing for a new local government system across the country through which members were elected. In urban areas, town committees were set up for towns having a population of less than 14,000. Under the Basic Democracies Ordinance of 1959, urban areas were defined as areas under the jurisdiction of a municipal body or any other area that the government could declare as an urban area. Town committees were expected to perform 37 functions ranging from measures for promotion of social welfare and health to the maintenance of infrastructural facilities. These committees could also levy taxes on 29 items that included vehicles and trade.

Urban areas consisted of union committees that had six to ten elected members. The Chairman of the union committee was elected as an ex-officio member of the municipal committee. Union committees were deprived of fiscal powers of any sort. While all the Chairmen of union committees were members of the municipal committee, the Chairman of the municipal committee itself was appointed by the provincial government or by Commissioners. In rural areas, the first tier of government was the Union Council that consisted of a group of villages. Like urban areas, each Council elected a Chairman from amongst its members who served as the executive head of the committee. Like town committees, Union Councils also had 37 functions assigned to them. The Chairmen of the Union Councils in an area constituted collectively a higher Council, the Tehsil Council, which did not perform any executive functions. Its main function was to coordinate the activities of Union Councils and Union Committees in its jurisdiction. Unlike Union Councils, the Tehsil Council had no taxation powers.

In the Basic Democracies System, a District Council was created, consisting of an Electoral College of which all Chairmen of Union Councils, town and union committees were members, removing the distinction between urban and rural areas. The District Council had 28 obligatory and 70 optional functions and powers to levy taxes. Its main purpose was to coordinate the activities of all local councils and municipal committees under its jurisdiction. The Basic Democracies system was seen as a substitute for universal suffrage and served as an Electoral College to elect the President and the assemblies. However, with the fall of the Ayub Khan regime, to which the system was closely associated, it fell into disfavour. Besides, the first general elections of 1970 and the separation of East Pakistan from Pakistan resulted in the formation of an altogether new system of government in the country. Ironically though, the proposed elections to be held under the People's Local Government Ordinance of 1975 promulgated by Pakistan's first democratically elected government and meant to elect town and municipal committees (as well as councils in the rural area), were never held.

If the first Martial Law Government was the pioneer in devising an extensive system of local governments, it was the second Martial Law Regime of General Zia that implemented elected local governments. These were revived in 1979 under the provincial local government ordinances, which, with amendments, is still in operation in Pakistan. Under this ordinance, there are four levels of municipal government in the urban areas: town committees, municipal committees, municipal corporations and metropolitan corporations. Members of the council elect the senior officers of these councils and the controlling authority is the elected house. There is a three-tier system of local government in operation in Pakistan in the rural areas, where Union Councils, Tehsil or Taluka Councils and District Councils are supposed to exist. However, provincial governments have in practice usually abolished the middle-tier, the Tehsil/Taluka level. As a result mainly Union Councils and District Councils exist, which are elected on the basis of adult franchise. The elected members elect the Chairmen of these councils themselves.

The period since 1985 has seen five general elections enabling the people to choose members of the provincial and national assemblies. In the absence of elected assemblies however, local governments were the only popularly elected bodies and thus played important political and developmentalist roles. After the election of Senators and members of the provincial and national assemblies, the role of local governments has been substantially marginalized. These elected representatives have taken over some functions which local governments used to perform. Specific federal and provincial level programmes that were directed at elected provincial and federal members of parliament, such as the Five Point Programme of the Junejo Government (1985-1988), the Peoples Programme of the first Benazir Bhutto Government and other such programmes, have in many ways intervened in the evolution of proper and improved local government.

Under the above named programmes, elected members of provincial and national assemblies were given funds of considerable amount that they could use, largely on their own discretion, for developmentalist projects in their political constituency. This has severely undermined the role local governments have been playing and can play in the development of particular (local) areas and regions. Furthermore, the fact that the elected principle of local bodies has been in abeyance reflects the attitude of elected and non-elected government officials. There seems to be an inherent conflict of interest between different tiers of government in which local governments, assumed to be the most expendable, have had to bear the brunt.

Constitutional provision of local government

In the Constitution, the allocations of the functions of the federal and provincial governments are clearly specified. There are some functions that are the exclusive responsibility of the federal government, while others according to the Constitution can either be performed by the federal or provincial governments. The existence of local governments is not formally embodied in the Constitution. Local governments in Pakistan exist under the supervision of the various provincial governments, where provincial governments have merely delegated some of their functions and responsibilities to local governments by the promulgation of ordinances. The Local Government Ordinance of 1979 and its amendments are in operation in Punjab, Sindh and NWFP, while Baluchistan's local governments are under the 1980 Ordinance. These ordinances specify the allocation of residuary functions of local governments. Since the dissolution of elected local governments in the early 1990s, elected local governments have only been restored in Punjab Province and NWFP.

In NWFP all local bodies were dissolved in 1991, in Sindh in 1992 and in Punjab in August 1993. Different reasons exist as to why the provincial governments dissolved the local governments in their own provinces. In the case of the NWFP, mismanagement and corruption were cited as reasons, while Punjab provincial government dissolved its local governments in order to ensure that national elections held in October 1993 were not influenced by incumbent local government officials. In the absence of democratically elected local government officials in rural and urban areas, Administrators ran all town committees, municipal committees and municipal corporations. Administrators are members of either the federal or provincial public service cadre or individuals appointed by the provincial government and can be transferred between different posts for unspecified duration of tenure.

Local Government Categories and Hierarchies

The local government ordinances specify that local urban areas shall be defined as a town, Municipality, city or metropolis depending on their size. The corresponding local government is a town committee, a municipal committee, a municipal corporation or a metropolitan corporation. Municipal status is primarily a function of population. Urban settlements with a population ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 are generally designated as town committees. Municipal committees have populations up to 250,000. Cities beyond that size and provincial capitals either have a municipal or a metropolitan corporation status. Property tax rating areas generally extend to the municipal committees and the larger town committees. The status of local government functionaries is directly correlated with the municipal status of the particular jurisdiction. At present, there are 2 metropolitan corporations, 15 municipal corporations, 156 municipal committees and 301 town committees functioning in Pakistan.

In urban areas, the four types of municipal committees have an organizational set-up that is more or less similar across the provinces. Despite the fact that urban Union Councils from town committees to municipal corporations vary in size a, where the latter may be as much as a hundred times the size of the former, there are very clear similarities in their organizational structure. There are always three sections or departments comprising general administration, finance and engineering. Town committees have just these three departments that grow in size and qualitative specialization as the size of the urban area increases, i.e. when a municipal committee or corporation represents it. Municipal committees and corporations are also very similar with regards to the nature of their organizational structure and both have two additional departments: education and health. Furthermore, the accounts department consists of two separate units, one for finance and the other for taxation.

The two metropolitan corporations of Lahore and Karachi have much more diverse and extensive organizational structures by virtue of their size. For example, given the extensive nature of the types of works that are to be performed in metropolitan areas, there is a need for additional departments that perform specialized functions pertaining to legal affairs, land management, development, etc. Besides, the larger municipal corporations in the country, together with the two metropolitan corporations have development authorities functioning as parallel organizations within the cities. However, while urban local councils perform more service related functions, development authorities are more involved with engineering, urban and town planning as well as traffic related issues.

Local Government Functions

The Local Government Ordinance specifies two sets of functions to be performed by local governments: compulsory and optional functions. In general the sets of functions for local governments in different provinces are more or less the same. There is further differentiation between the functions of a regulatory nature and those that relate to the provision of services. For the three larger provinces, a common list for all urban councils containing compulsory and optional functions exists. Thus, town committees, municipal committees, municipal corporations and metropolitan corporations (with the exception of Karachi) are supposed to perform the same functions. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation has been given additional functions. Due to the lower extent of urbanization in Baluchistan a smaller list of functions exists for town committees.

Local governments already have a very large number of functions which they are expected to perform. It is unlikely that extending their statutory duties would have a particularly significant and positive effect on their performance. Thus legal provisions are not a real handicap. It is likely that financial and technical and possibly bureaucratic constraints, may be the cause for the poor performance of most municipal governments. Like their urban counterpart, a very long list of functions for the two-tiered rural local government exists as well. Union Councilors are expected to perform civil, welfare and development functions. The civil functions include the provision and maintenance of public ways, sanitation, conservancy, the slaughter of animals, maintenance of wells, water pumps and tanks. If calamities strike, the Union Councils are expected to undertake relief measures and other measures to promote welfare and health. The development functions of the council include measures to increase food production, industry and promote community development.

District Councils have optional and compulsory functions. Compulsory functions include the provision and maintenance of roads, bridges, public buildings, water supply, maintenance and management of hospitals, maintenance and construction of school buildings etc. Many of the optional functions of District Councils are similar to those of town committees. Despite the large number of legislative functions of local councils and their often extensive organization and management structures, very few functions are actually carried out by local councils.

In urban areas, essentially three basic (compulsory) services are carried out - garbage disposal, maintenance of roads and street lighting. In larger cities, local government looks after preventive health care, which is beyond the scope of smaller urban councils. Most urban local councils are involved in the maintenance of water and sanitation services. Essentially, urban local councils have restricted their role to some of the compulsory functions which they are expected to perform. In smaller cities, even these compulsory functions have been unfulfilled by the local council because they either do not have the funds or know how to undertake the compulsory functions. In rural areas, the actual role of Union Councils and District Councils is even more limited than the role played by smaller urban councils. Some District Councils are involved in the development and maintenance of link roads and drainage. Union Councils have virtually no role in development or maintenance of services. The larger District Councils have a partial involvement in the provision of preventive and curative health care and in animal husbandry.

Compulsory functions of urban councils

• Public health (sanitation, insanitary buildings and lands, removal, collection and disposal of refuse, latrines and urinals, birth and death and infectious diseases):

• Water supply: wholesome water sufficient for public and private purposes.

• Drainage:

• Food and drinks: no private market for the sale of articles of food or drink or animals shall be established or maintained within a Municipality except under a license granted by the Committee and in conformity with conditions of such license.

• Animals and cattle: prohibition on picketing and tethering in streets, prohibition against keeping and maintaining cattle, provisions regarding dangerous animals and disposal of carcasses.

• Education:

• Public safety: fire fighting, civil defense, floods, and trade in dangerous and offensive articles.

• Town planning: draw up a Master Plan for the Municipality, Site Development Schemes, and the execution of Site Development Schemes.

• Building control: erection and re-erection of buildings, completion of buildings, alteration of buildings, regulation of buildings etc.

• Streets: public streets, street lighting/watering, traffic control and public vehicles.

• Arboriculture.

Optional functions of urban councils

• Public health:

• Dhobi Gats, ferries etc.: bathing and washing places, Dhobi Ghat, public water courses, public ferries and public fisheries.

• Foods and drinks: bye-laws for articles of food and drink as well as milk supply.

• Trees, parks, gardens and forests: open spaces, nuisances pertaining to trees and plantations, tanks and low-lying areas.

• Education:

• Culture: libraries, fairs, shows etc.

• Social welfare:

Functions of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation

• Physical planning, town planning and building control;
• Trunk sewerage system, sewerage treatment plants and sewerage farms;
• Bulk water supply;
• Refuse disposal plants;
• Abattoirs and cattle colonies;
• Special and general hospitals as well as maternity homes with 50 beds or more like Spencer's Eye Hospital, Leprosy Hospital, Epidemic Hospital, New Challi Hospital, Lyari Hospital, Sobhrajh and Ranchore Lane Maternity Homes;
• Planning and supervision of vector control;
• Planning, development and maintenance of food laboratories;
• Air and water pollution control;
• Milk supply schemes;
• Planning, development and maintenance of metropolitan roads and storm water drains;
• Metropolitan transport and traffic engineering;
• Land control
• Higher and specialized education including teachers training;
• Regularization of Katchi Abadis and implementation of the Special Karachi Development Project;
• Municipal police;
• Control workshops and press;
• Zoological gardens, aquaria, metropolitan stadium, safari parks, sports complexes and beaches;
• Metropolitan libraries, museums and art galleries;
• Preservation of landscape, river training and flood control;
• Planning, development and maintenance of fire fighting services;
• Control of infectious diseases;
• Public ferries;
• Articles of food and drink;
• Site development schemes;
• Civil defense;
• Metropolitan burial grounds and burning places;
• Forests;
• Training of Municipal Servants; and
• Any other function assigned by the government.

Local Government Finances

The entire revenue of all local governments - rural and urban - form a mere 5 per cent of revenue generated by the different tiers of government, with the federal government earning close to 89 per cent and the remaining being generated by the provincial governments. Over time, the share of revenue generated by local governments has been rising, albeit marginally, while that of the provincial governments has fallen. The local governments have collectively, been able to show a better fiscal effort in terms of tax and non-tax revenue generation in the last ten years. Nevertheless, as a share of all revenues generated, the contribution of local governments is very small. As far as expenditure is concerned, local governments spend only about 4 per cent of the total expenditure of all forms of governments in the country. This relative amount has fallen over the last decade. As far as recurring expenditure is concerned, local governments spend a much larger share on establishment costs as local governments spend 10 per cent of all expenditure on general administration in the country. Of the recurring expenditure on the social services, provincial governments spend the largest share since education and health are provincial concerns. Local governments contribute 10 per cent to the establishment costs of social services.

Over time, the federal government has shifted its contribution on development expenditures to the provincial and local governments, hence causing both to contribute more over the last ten years. Thus, in 1979-80, provincial governments were incurring a share in total development expenditure of about 18 per cent, rising to 29 per cent in 1985-86. Similarly, in the same period, local government increased their share from 3 per cent to about 6 per cent.

Table 2 Municipal Income and Expenditures (in million Rupees)

Source: Pakistan Economic Survey 1996-97, Statistical Appendix, 1997.

Since local governments come under the jurisdiction of provincial governments, their right to levy taxes is also subject to the directives of the latter. Local governments assist provincial governments in the collection of revenue; thus provincial governments have delegated the right of the collection of taxes to local governments as indicated in the Local Government Ordinance of 1979. Local governments have been instructed to charge a local rate or local ceases on all land assessable to rent, land revenue or use in their jurisdiction. The provincial government will determine the rate to be charged and can change it from time to time as it deems fit. Local bodies are authorized by the provincial government to levy all or any of the taxes laid out in the Second Schedule of the LGO. All urban local governments on the direction of their provincial governments can levy the following taxes:

• Tax on the import of goods and animals in the jurisdiction of the Committee for consumption, use or sale therein;
• Tax on the annual rental value of buildings and land;
• Tax on cinemas and cinema tickets;
• Entertainment tax on dramatical and theatrical shows;
• Tax on the transfer of immovable property;
• Tax on water, drainage and conservancy rate;
• Tax on all kinds of vehicles;
• Tax on lighting rate;
• Tax on the birth of children;
• Taxfee for the erection and re-erection of buildings;
• Marriage tax;
• Taxfee for the licenses, sanctions and permits granted by the Committee;
• Taxfees on the slaughter of animals;
• Tax on professions, trade, callings and employment;
• Market taxfees;
• Tax on advertisements;
• Tax on feasts where more than twenty persons, not belonging to the household of the persons arranging the feast, are entertained with foodstuffs;
• Tax on animals and sale of animals;
• Toll tax on roads, bridges and ferries maintained by the Committee;
• Taxfees at fairs, agricultural shows, industrial exhibitions, tournaments and other public gatherings;
• Taxfees for specific services rendered by a Committee;
• Tax for the construction or maintenance of any work of public utility;
• Tax on parking fees; and
• Any other tax which government is empowered to levy by law.

Other than the taxes identified in the Second Schedule, provincial governments can direct any specific local council to levy any other tax, reduce or increase any existing tax and suspend or abolish the levy of any existing tax. The provincial government has also given permission to local councils and their Chairmen to make changes in the existing tax structure by drawing up specific taxation proposals. The rules and procedures of proposing new taxes are as follows. Each tax is to have a separate tax proposal that can only be presented at the time of the framing of the annual budget or the revised budget of the local council. The Chairman receives the financial position of the council and adds his proposal as an appendix to the budget. The proposals are then framed in the form of a draft tax modification, indicating the class of persons or category of property proposed to be taxed, as well as the specific rate at which the tax is proposed to be levied. The Chairman of the council will then issue a public notice with regard to each taxation proposal specifying:

• Main features of the taxation proposal;
• Class of persons or description of property or both, affected thereby;
• Amount or rate of tax to be imposed, increased or reduced;
• System of assessment to be adopted;
• Exemptions proposed to be made;
• Additional income likely to be raised by the imposition of the tax or the increase in the tax and the purpose on which this additional income is proposed to be spent;
• Loss of income likely to be caused by the abolition or suspension of the tax or the reduction in the rate of the tax and the manner in which this short fall in income is proposed to be made up;
• Justification of the taxation proposal; and
• Any other particulars considered necessary for the information of the public.

Once the proposal has been published, a period of thirty days will be permitted in which the inhabitants of the region may make objections or suggestions to the preliminary taxation proposals to the local council. The local council appoints a sub-committee consisting of its Chairman and other specified members who examine the nature of the objections and suggestions by the public regarding the proposed taxes. The committee sends a report to the local council that either approves it with or without modifications, or drops the taxation proposals. If approved, the taxation proposals come into force after they have been officially notified. For urban councils, there is basically no variation in fiscal powers by municipal status. Also, taxes, rates, tolls and fees that can be levied by Union Councils and District Councils, are in most cases very similar to those that can be levied by urban government.

Resource base of municipal governments

The Local Government Ordinance prescribes the various sources of revenue which local governments have access to. In urban areas as a whole, taxes form about 60 per cent of revenue, while the remainder accrues from non-tax sources. The single biggest source of revenue for urban councils is the octroi tax that accounts for in excess of 50 per cent of revenue. This is more significant for larger corporations, while the share falls as the size of the urban council decreases. This pattern is not unexpected, since it is based on goods being brought into council areas. In highly developed areas with a larger consumer base and areas producing industrial goods, more goods are imported and consumed. Hence the higher share of the taxes in these areas.

Property related taxes such as the urban immovable property tax and the tax on the transfer of property, constitute the next largest source of revenue. Together they constitute about 10 per cent. Again, property related taxes yield higher revenues in the larger cities such as metropolitan and municipal corporations. Smaller urban councils depend more on non-tax receipts than do larger councils. Licenses, fees and other non-tax receipts constitute a far greater share in smaller towns/cities than in larger ones. The octroi tax which forms the largest single source of revenue of all urban local governments is imposed on all goods imported into the municipal limits whether these are consumed by households or used in industry. Octroi posts exist at all the entry points in a city. Up to a few years ago, local governments had their own staff in the taxation department collecting this tax, but now the tax is collected by contractors who bid in an open auction, reap the benefits above the guaranteed minimum and pledge a certain minimum amount. There are 18 classes of articles on which the tax is levied with more than 225 taxable items in total. Rates vary from city to city, but in general there is not much variation amongst cities. Rates on food items vary less than those on non-food items. Smaller cities have a larger food share in their octroi composition, while in larger cities the octroi is more broad based.

The urban immovable property tax is collected from all land and buildings within the municipal area which have been declared as rating areas and is paid by the owners of these properties. The tax imposed on such property is the actual annual rent in the case of buildings that are rented and the estimated rent in owner-occupied dwellings. The annual rental value is determined by estimating the gross annual rent at which such land or building can be let. Providing for an allowance of up to 20 per cent of the gross annual rent for furnishing and 10 per cent for repairs is used to derive the tax to be calculated on property. For those buildings that house their owners, similar rented dwellings are used as proxies. Although legislative regulations require properties to be reassessed every five years, most provincial governments have not done so and there has been, at best, a minimal increase in assessed property values. Had there been a regular reassessment of property values, it is possible that the larger committees and corporations could have increased their income quite substantially.

The only tax levied by both urban and rural councils is the tax on transfer of property, which is levied at the time of sale on immovable property. The assessment is based on the total value of the property at the time of the transfer. The water rate is a tax levied by urban local governments in the form of a user charge, but the rate is not dependent on the level of consumption of the water and is in almost all especially domestic cases, charged as a flat rate, or as an estimate based on plot size or rental value. This is especially so in the case of municipal and town committees, while larger corporations link the water rate to ferrule size. Water rates are often not increased as there is a fear that there will be a large political reaction on such measures. Only 40 per cent of urban councils increased their rates in the 1980s. On average, the increase in rates has been of the order of almost 60 per cent. Since very few urban local councils have been able to increase their rates not withstanding the substantially increasing costs to finance water supply schemes, costs in provision of water have outstripped the revenue being generated by the water rate. As a result of this, local governments have not even been able to generate funds to cover their (increasing) operation and maintenance costs. The average for recovery of recurring cost is less than 50 per cent. The reason why recovery is so low is because of the existing very low rates on water usage: fixed or constant rates are not commensurate with size. Besides, the collection efficiency on water rates is quite low.

Personnel Systems in Local Government

The executive powers of a council rest in and are exercised by the elected Mayor, the Chairman in case of the formers absence, their deputies in case both of them are absent, or by Administrators in case of the absence of elected local councils. The following executive powers of a local council vest in the Chairman:

• Execution of the resolutions of the local council;
• Conduct of the day-to-day administration;
• Execution of all contracts;
• Execution of works;
• Supervision and control of the staff of the local council;
• Appointment, transfer, promotion and punishment (including dismissal, reduction in rank and removal from service) of municipal officers and servants, temporary and permanent, the minimum of whose scale of pay does not exceed a specified sum;
• Holding of departmental inquiries; provided that the Chairman may nominate one or more municipal officers by whom such inquiries, such of them or such classes of them, as the Chairman may specify in this behalf, may be held;
• Granting of licenses, permits and sanctions as well as their cancellation and suspension;
• Operation of Municipal Fund;
• Custody, maintenance, inspection, development and improvement of different kinds of municipal property;
• Acquisition, sale and disposal of property up to a limit specified by the local council with the approval of the Controlling Authority;
• Granting of lease of any immovable property belonging to the local council;
• Custody of the common seal of the local council;
• Conduct of all correspondence on behalf of the local council;
• Maintenance, management and administration of public health, veterinary, education, fire-fighting institutions, libraries, maktabs and markets;
• Maintenance, improvement and control of streets and street lighting;
• Regulation and control of buildings, street and building lines, encroachments and traffic;
• Execution of schemes regarding water supply, drainage, sanitation, milk supply, livestock improvement, site development, town planning, arboriculture, gardens, forests social welfare, culture and development; and
• Other executive powers as may be specified.

The Chief Officer of each council/committee is the chief executive on the government's behalf. He is subject to the general control of the Mayor or Chairman and undertakes the following duties (the following job description is specific to NWFP, but is quite similar across provinces). As the department head of all the sections of local councils he is:

• The coordinator for the administration within the local council and with other nation building departments;
• Responsible for maintaining proper discipline in the local council;
• The Secretary of the council and responsible for carrying out all standing instructions of the provincial government;
• Responsible for carrying out all the policies framed by the local councils and for arranging monthly meetings of the local council as has been provided in the NWFP's Local Councils (Conduct of Business) Rules (1980);
• Responsible for the preparation of the Annual Budget of the Council as outlined in NWFP’s Local Councils (Budget) Rules (1980);
• Responsible for taking and initiating disciplinary action against local councils servants in accordance with NWFP's Local Councils servants (E&D) Rules (1980);
• Jointly responsible for carrying out developmental works, arranging effective recoveries of local council dues through concerned staff and conducting auctions of the contracts strictly in accordance with the provisions laid down in NWFP's Local Government Ordinance (1979) and the rules and instructions framed thereunder;
• The custodian of the property of the local council;
• Responsible to ensure that the terms and conditions of agreements to be executed with the parties in connection with any type of contract of the council are properly drafted with no ambiguity and in accordance with the provisions contained in NWFP's Local Councils (Contract) Rules (1980) and instructions issued from time to time; and
• Responsible to check all sorts of irregularities in the Export Tax and Octroi Contracts and to inquire and take actions into all such complaints lodged against the defaulting contractors and staff members.

The Chief Officer is on the government basic pay scale and his seniority depends on the size of the council. Similarly, municipal engineers also have an hierarchy of seniority in different sizes of councils. Usually, in urban councils engineers and medical doctors are of the same level of seniority as the Chief Officer, while those in the finance section are of lower seniority. Local government have their own staff who are paid by the various provincial Local Government and Rural Development Departments (LGRDDs). Postings can be made anywhere within a province as determined by the Department.

It is the Local Government Board in each province that is actually responsible for recruitment and appointment subject to the approval of the competent authority. This board is responsible for the provincial pool of (usually senior) employees. The junior positions held within each council are specific to the council and are recruited locally by the council. These posts are not transferable. All provincial governments decide which posts of the council are to be filled by which of the two types of categories, although general practice often varies indiscriminately. In the past a number of training institutes for municipality staff used to exist but now they have been closed due to resource constraints, which means that at least for the lower cadre training opportunities are few and far between. At present, in an undemocratic set-up where all elected local bodies have been dismissed, the overall head of a Municipality is the Administrator, who essentially replaces the Chairman/Mayor of the Municipality and is also appointed by either the provincial government or the LGRDD.

Appointments to jobs under the Local Council Boards are advertised and competitive posts, often including written tests and interviews. Similar criteria are used for both urban and rural councils. The role of the Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner in rural areas has been diminished on paper. However, although the board can make recommendations about the type of appointment, often senior political and/or administrative employees of the provincial government, have the final say in the selection of the candidate. Such arbitrary decisions have given rise to allegations of severe corruption at the local government level and other levels and institutions of government in Pakistan as well.

The Divisional Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner at district level are the main government employees in the rural areas and although many of them still wield despotic power in some areas, at least on paper there has been a qualitative change in their roles. The Deputy Commissioner is no longer head of the local councils under his jurisdiction, although he is the key functionary of the provincial government at the district level. His role is meant to be one of a coordinator of different governmental development departments and institutions in the district. In practice, however, he holds considerable power and political influence in his area of domain, often influencing important decisions.

Central-Local Links

Since local governments are not a central part of the Constitution and have merely been delegated powers by the provincial governments, it is not surprising that local governments actually owe their existence and powers to the provincial governments. Provincial governments can dismiss local governments by themselves or on the advice of the federal government. Clearly, this is a highly subjective and dominating, relationship; local governments do not operate independently from the provincial government and can hardly exercise any influence. From senior appointments to requests for more resources or the permission to increase taxes and rates, local governments are dependent upon their provinces. It would not be unfair to say that provinces control local governments, essentially through the LGRDDs. Besides, the budgets of local councils have to approved by the provincial government, who are entitled to make amendments and suggestions.

Extent of Public Participation

Under the Local Government Ordinances of 1979, elections of all local bodies take place on an adult franchise basis. After the elections of the members of a unit, the Chairmen, Vice Chairmen and Mayors are elected from amongst the members of the local council. The membership of each council is determined on the basis of the population distribution in that region. A separate representation is provided for non-Muslims, peasants, workers and women, who are all elected by the members of the councils. The degree of electoral representation – number of seats according to population - is highest at the lowest level of local government, i.e. the Union Council level in rural areas. There is a maximum number of seats prescribed for District Councils and municipal corporations in some provinces, which implies that the number of seats rises less than proportionately with respect to population. Close to 80,000 seats are contested in the local government elections. 89 Per cent of the elected representatives are seated in rural local councils of which 84 per cent in Union Councils. Since Punjab has the greatest share of Pakistan's total population, it also has the highest proportion of overall local government seats (68 per cent).

There are a number of formal and informal mechanisms that allow the represented population to be involved in the affairs of the local councils. Formal mechanisms for mass participation are included in the Local Government Ordinances. For example, in case of taxation every taxation proposal is published along with a notice in newspapers, so that the public can make its objections and suggestions. However, it is the informal channels of public participation which are perhaps more representative. There is a great deal of awareness of and involvement in the lives of the public with regards to services undertaken by local councils. Expectations about the performance of local government are always high, precisely because the tasks which this level of government is expected to perform influences the lives of a large number of people at the local level. There is frequent contact between elected councilors and their constituents and opinions about performance are regularly aired. This is perhaps the most sensitive tier of government and one in which the public is most directly involved.

Despite playing such a potentially prominent role in the lives of the people in Pakistan, elected local government in Pakistan has been non-existent for most of the time. Throughout its history, Pakistan has had elected federal and provincial governments. Elected local governments were only recently restored in Punjab and elections are planned in NWFP and Baluchistan. In Sindh the federal government under an Emergency declaration has dismissed even the provincial government. The reasons why local government elections have not been held on a regularly basis are revealing. Local government elections have only been held by Pakistan's two military authoritarian regimes of Ayub Khan and Zia ul Haq. All other avenues for public participation were closed under these dictatorships and elections to the national and Provincial Assemblies were not allowed. Under both military regimes, elected local bodies played a very useful and productive role in many areas of the lives of people. With the return to democracy, when national and provincial assembly elections were again held, elected local bodies lost most of their importance and their role and potential was severely undermined by elected representatives of the higher tiers of government. This happened despite of the fact that a very large number of members of national and Provincial Assemblies had previously been elected to local councils when other forms of representation did not exist. Moreover, patronage and grants to members of provincial and national assemblies bypassing local governments, helped to further weaken the position of local government. Possibly, by realizing the potentials of effective local government, representatives of higher tiers of government felt threatened this level of government would undermine their new roles and privileges. Hence their reluctance to revive this institution.

The Way Ahead

Although local governments suffer from innumerable problems, many of which are serious, perhaps the biggest problem at present is that, except for Punjab, they lack public representation. Elections to local bodies will not solve all of the problems faced by this institution, nevertheless the process of participation and representation at this tier of government is probably a minimum condition to improve performance and capability. Although democracy in Pakistan at the provincial and national level has been wrought with glaring inconsistencies and shortcomings, an uninterrupted process of participation at all levels of government may, given time, initiate a process which improves the quality of participation and representation and hence, of governance.

Hence, the minimum condition for the improvement of government and governance, is that elections be held at regular intervals at all levels of government. Local governments suffer from the fact that their existence is not constitutionally ordained and they are a mere extension of the provincial government. This too must change if local government is to be considered a serious forum for policy and implementation. While provincial government can continue to work with the lowest tier of government, unless a substantial degree of importance is granted to local government, it will remain subservient to the provinces and constrained, if not downright ineffective. Therefore, constitutional amendments are needed to free local government from provincial government, granting the former greater autonomy from the latter. Also, greater provincial autonomy will be a positive constitutional step at this stage and can act as a precursor to greater local government autonomy. Once the two main measures are undertaken - elections and greater autonomy - other changes can and will be instituted at the local level as and when needed by the appropriate authorities. Taxation proposals, administrative reform, employment issues, etc., can all be considered afresh by each respective council once it has the power and authority to do so. This will especially be true for the larger metropolitan and municipal councils with a larger resource base.

The role of the provincial government, while diminished, will continue to be of importance, especially in terms of provincial level coordination and in assisting a large number of smaller rural and urban councils, which despite the necessary changes, would require considerable assistance from higher tiers of government. Pakistan is amongst those countries where local government has become ineffective and largely inoperative. Its main purpose has been reduced to providing employment to a handful of individuals and looking after a few basic services, like street lighting, cleaning and perhaps water provision. Local government has neither the funds nor the technical expertise or possibly even the motivation to do anything worthwhile. Development projects and the running of schools and health institutions are out of the reach of even the more well to do and large metropolitan councils. To a large extent, local governments are not responsible for their predicament. Other institutions and individuals at higher levels of government are probably most responsible for the dire states in which local government finds itself. Reform of local government must begin with reform of the highest tiers of the state government. The Constitution, the federal government and the political government must all be reviewed and reformed in order to improve their functioning. This is the pre-requisite for any significant improvement at the local level.

References

Applied Economics Research Centre (AERC), A Model of Municipal Finances in Pakistan, Karachi, 1990

Local Government Finances and Administration in Pakistan, three volumes, Karachi, 1990

Resource Mobilization and Institutional Capacity Study, seven volumes, Karachi, 1991

Resource Mobilization by Federal Government in Pakistan, Karachi, 1992

Resource Mobilization by Provincial and Local Governments in Pakistan, Karachi, 1992

Metropolitan Resource Generation Study, seven volumes, Karachi, 1993

Qureshi, Sarfraz K., Pakistan, in UNESCAP Development Papers No 11, UNESCAP, Bangkok, 1991

Zaidi, S. Akbar, Effective Local Level Delivery of Human Resources: Development Related Programmes - The case of Pakistan, Mimeo UNESCAP, Bangkok, 1991

A Study on Making Optimum Use of Municipal Budgets to Finance Child Development in Pakistan, Mimeo, UNICEF, Karachi, 1994

Urban Local Government in Pakistan : Expecting too Much from too Little?, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 44, 1996

Nazrul and M. Mohabbat Khan (eds.), Urban Local Governance in Pakistan, in Islam: Urban Governance in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Centre for Urban Studies, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, 1997

Khuhro Hameeda (ed.), Karachi: Prospects for the Future, in Karachi: Megacity of Our Times, Oxford University Press, Karachi, 1997

Poverty, Politics, Institutions: The case of Karachi, Economic and Political Weekly, (forthcoming)

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