The Punjab Cabinet on Tuesday approved amendments in Punjab Local Government Act 2019, under which taking part in local bodies' elections will only be permitted through political party or electoral panel.
The approval was given during the 20th meeting of the provincial Cabinet, which was chaired by Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar. Moreover, under the new amendments, Returning Officers will announce the results and in case of any complaint, election tribunal will decide under the election act.
The meeting also gave approval to amendments in Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Act 2019, delimitation of local areas under Punjab Demarcation of Local Areas Rules 2019 and establishment of succeeding local governments under Punjab Local Government Act 2019. Under the new local government systems, as many as 455 local governments will be constituted in the whole of the province.
The Cabinet also approved revision of Punjab Municipal Services Programme and thus local governments will complete roads repair and maintenance.
For the promotion of tourism in Lahore Fort and its buffer zone, the meeting gave an approval to the heritage and urban regeneration programme. Under this programme, the royal privacy ('khalwat khana') and other areas of the fort will be restored. The hanging electricity wires will be removed along with the restoration of historically-important places around the fort. Moreover, a fort museum will be established in the Lahore Fort with a soft loan worth US$25.8 million, which will be borrowed from the French Development Agency.
The meeting decided to declare Lahore and Nakchivan city of Azerbaijan as sister cities and signing of MoU was also approved in this regard. This would help in promoting economic cooperation, exchange of delegations and launching of joint projects, observed the participants in the meeting.
A green signal was also given for establishment of South Punjab Institute of Science and Technology in DG Khan.
On the occasion, Punjab Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Minister Ijaz Alam welcomed the decision of granting voting right to minorities in local bodies' elections on general seats and added that the Chief Minister has won the hearts of the religious minorities by giving them the right of double voting and the Punjab government has fulfilled their long-standing demand.
While addressing the meeting, the Chief Minister said that the PTI government is the custodian of minorities' rights, adding that historic steps have been taken in Punjab to protect their rights and every decision is being made in consultation with the cabinet. He hoped that local bodies system will be helpful in empowerment of the people at the grassroots as it has been designed in accordance with the needs of the time.
Provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, Chief Secretary and others attended the meeting.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2019