Decentralised governance.

Byline: Altaf Hussain Khosa

NOT too long ago, the defunct local government representatives of Punjab appealed to the chief justice of Pakistan, through the national print media, to restore LGs, which were suspended by the government in May 2019. They took the stance that LGs could serve better during the current public health emergency than the bureaucrats working at the local level who were unable to tackle the social and economic predicaments of the public.

Notwithstanding the political motives behind the request made at this juncture, there is a genuine need for decentralised governance. Through their vast public representation, LGs could effectively sensitise the general public about their rights and responsibilities within community organisations, besides mobilising resources to curb the enormity of the crises.

In the post-industrialised world, the devolution of power and resources to smaller administrative and political units is considered the foundation stone of good governance, leading to development at the grassroots. Even China, despite its unitary constitutional system, has developed a robust set-up of LGs which accommodates 89 per cent of the total number of public-sector employees. The role of provincial governments in China is limited to looking after and guiding LGs on behalf of the central government.

The absence of devolution of political, administrative and financial authority to smaller regional units has been the main hurdle in the way of providing essential services at the local level in Pakistan. It is alienating the people from the state and its institutions. Decentralisation in the first decade of the country's independence could have been the solution to many geographical, administrative, social and economic problems. But the leadership of that time neglected the importance of inclusive governance, and boosted the centralised civil and military bureaucracy to overcome these problems. This strategy led to untoward historical incidents, alongside poor development.

The absence of devolution is alienating the people from the state.

Article 140-A of the Constitution requires the provincial governments to establish LGs in their jurisdiction. Historically, this has not been implemented by the civilian political government due to the controversial division of power and responsibilities among the three tiers of government, ie federal, provincial and local. However, three military dictators who ruled the country in different...