The district councillors from Northern Areas have demanded of the federal government to implement the Devolution Plan (local government system) in the area. The demand was made by the district councillors and members municipal committees at a meeting with the federal minister for Kashmir affairs and northern areas on Thursday.
The federal government had introduced Local Government Regime in 2002 through an Ordinance in all the four provinces but it is yet to be implemented in the NAs, said Shafeeq-ur-Rehman, member and co-ordinator of District Council, Gilgit.
The councillors demanded of the government to introduce the local government system in the NAs, to ensure representation of people at grass roots level in decision making, he added.
Besides, he said, the councillors also sought 10 percent allocation of the public sector development programme (PSDP) funds to NAs local bodies institutions.
Shafeeq pointed out that after giving 33 percent seats to women in the local bodies, the budget has not been increased for them in the same proportion and asked for raising the budget accordingly.
Meanwhile, Major Tahir Iqbal (Retd), Federal Minster for Kana Division said that the government is making sincere and focused efforts for the socio-economic development of NAs and all the projects approved for the area under PSDP would be implemented satisfactorily within the stipulated time, says a statement issued here.
The minister said that he desire to develop Gilgit into a modern city, at par with the major cities of the country with well-planned infrastructure and all the required urban facilities.
He directed the members of the delegation to prepare schemes and projects in education, tourism, water and power sectors projects with emphasis on creating better economic opportunities for the residents of the area.
He assured that all the feasible projects would be executed and no project would suffer due to lack of funds, as he would request the Prime Minister to provide additional funds as special development grant for Northern Areas.
The minister added that Northern Areas are an asset for the country, which would soon be transformed into tourist heavens through proper planning and development.
The delegation comprised Mohammed Hussain, Chairman District Council Gilgit, Zawar Fida Hussain, Chairman Municipal Committee, Yasmeen, Members District Council, Shafeeq-ur-Rehman, Coordinator and Ms Naveeda.
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