Reforming LG

One thing on which the regime of former President Pervez Musharraf prided itself most was the so-called Devolution of Power Plan, first announced in March 2000 and then with some changes and modifications launched from early 2001. The existing Local Government (LG) institutions are (re) constituted on the basis of principles that underlay the Plan.
These principles were: devolution, decentralisation of authority, diffusion of powers, decontrol and provision of services at the doorstep of the people. The linchpin of the system, however, is District Nazim, who is supposed to provide both administrative and political leadership to the District Government comprising Naib (Deputy) Nazim, elected council and administrative heads of various departments in the district.
The new system marked a radical departure from the traditional system of local government in Pakistan as it placed the district administration directly under the authority of elected political leadership-something the British had assiduously avoided to maintain the non-political character of the administration. The Plan was the capstone of the entire scheme chartered by the former military ruler of Pakistan to reconstruct the polity of the Pakistan according to his world view.
However, the new system earned the ire of the political parties from the very beginning on the ground that it undermined provincial autonomy and sought to create a new constituency for Musharraf. Although almost all the political parties have long standing commitment, as is evident from their election manifestos, to reform the old system of Local Government inherited from the British, they vowed to scrap the system introduced by the previous regime under the Devolution of Power Plan as it was imposed from up.
No wonder, as soon as the new dispensations took over in the centre and all the four provinces of the country following the February elections, steps have been initiated to change if not altogether scrap the existing LG system. As a first step, the office of Divisional Commissioner has been revived and all the DCOs, EDOs and TMOs are being asked by the provincial administration to cooperate with the Divisional Commissioners to make the revival of the new cadre a success.