Pakistan inherited the British system of bureaucratic centrality after independence, which shaped and controlled the political, administrative and financial portfolios of newly emerged state. After assuming the power, Ayub Khan introduced the system of Basic Democracies with local councils under the headship of district bureaucracy. This paper is an effort to elaborate the role of bureaucracy in Basic Democracies System of 1959. Paper discusses the functions of local councils under the headship and assistance of bureaucratic officers. Local bodies are remarkable due to public participation in local governance. Democratically designated, piloted by local publics; answerable to their local populations. National and sub-national governments have no control over them. Local ruling classes are local establishment that symbolize the democratic idyllic at local level. Local representatives solve the problems of their communities on their behalf. Local governments are integral part of any political system, which constitute local institutions governed by local populace. Local governments are very important in terms of service delivery, public participation, policy designing, domestic law-making and good governance at local level. They are also crucial to depoliticize the local governance mechanisms and to approach the central and provincial institutions. Bureaucracy is hierarchical organization managing and monitoring the state business. A vibrant hierarchical pattern, specialism, division of work force and formal set of rules and regulations are important specifications of bureaucracy functioning in any part of the world. Bureaucracy establishes the administrative mechanism of local governments to deliver social services, design local policies and form rules and regulations. Apart from enactment and implementation of laws and conveyance of social services, bureaucracy also administers the developmental projects planned by elected representatives of autonomous local * This research paper is made possible with the generous funding of HEC under the " project Reforming Local self-government in Pakistan: Effective Bureaucratic model for district Governments "
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Annual Review of Social Policy and Development Centre
An empowered, accountable and efficient local government that is capable of addressing the needs of the people and promoting democratic participation is an imperative for appropriate allocation of resources and improved delivery of services. Pakistan's experience of Local Government is unique as all the local government reforms carried out in its history have been initiated by the non-representative military regimes. The democratic regimes have undermined those reforms and have largely unwelcomed autonomous local governments. A glance at history shows that no local government plans have been implemented by democratic governments resulting in the concentration of decision making in the center. The Eighteenth Amendment passed in 2010 by a democratic regime can thus be considered as an achievement towards devolution as it not only empowered the provinces, but also made it obligatory for the provinces to further devolve power to Local Government institutions. This is the first time in the history that Local Government System has not been devised from the center; consequently, the system is not uniform across the country. The extent of authority, functions, and fiscal discretions conferred to the Local Government varies in each province. The proposed paper compares the Local Government Acts of the four provinces. It offers a structural comparison exploring the rural-urban mechanisms of governance, provides an analysis of the local representation, administrative authority, mechanisms of provincial oversight and extent of fiscal devolution in each province. The paper concludes with recommendations for enhancing efficient service delivery at the local level.
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SSRN Electronic Journal
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The Sindh LG system introduced in 2013 and implemented in 2016 is an important though much delayed step towards enhancing the quality of local service delivery in Sindh. For the first time in Pakistan’s history, LGs have been introduced in Sindh and throughout Pakistan under elected governments. This enhances the ownership of major political parties in local governance. The elections were held on party basis and the legislation provides a sound division of labour and clear line of authority in the rural areas among District Councils and Union Councils. However, the review also highlights a number of areas where decentralization of power to the local governments still needs to be increased further to achieve both the technocratic and political economy goals of LGs.
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This study aimed: i) To briefly summarize Pakistan’s experiences with LG systems since 1947; ii) To understand the contours of the Islamabad LG system 2015 and analyze whether the extent of administrative, financial and political devolution provided in it is sufficient to achieve the efficiency, effectiveness, equity and egalitarianism aims of LGs, iii) To compare the Islamabad LG system with earlier attempts at devolution in Pakistan and with the LG systems of 2-3 other capital cities globally, iv) To analyze the opinions of key stakeholders, including local councilors, communities and civil society members about the Islamabad LG system, v) To provide recommendations for improving the system in the future, and vi) To develop an advocacy agenda around the recommendations.
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Journal of International Politics
Most studies on decentralisation in developing countries reveal that the failure of decentralizing was due to inadequate local government framework, ineffective implementation or capture of local government by interest groups or a combination of these factors. The result was the inadequate delivery of services at the local level and failure to strengthen grassroots democracy. We argue that unlike most developing countries, the lessons learned from the case of Pakistan demonstrates that right from the outset the purpose of decentralisation was not to decentralise power and authority but to meet two prime objectives. First, strengthening of civil and military bureaucracies to establish the most centralised and coercive government structures through the political marginalisation of mainstream political parties and; second to co-opt newly emerging politicians from local councils who could act as conduits between the local constituencies and military established governments.
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An examination of the local government reforms instituted by the Musharraf government in 2000 in Pakistan. It demonstrates how the devolution reforms decreased the political and administrative influence of the bureaucracy by removing their executive administration powers and caused further politicization and decay of the civil service. Non-traditional authorities and local elites were able to capture many of the new elected positions resulting in little improvement in the people’s participation. Patron-client relations between the local elite and civil servants were reversed, further weakening the bureaucracy. The rise in power of the military and its infiltration into all institutions of the state allowed it to systemically weaken the bureaucracy’s elite cadre (the DMG) and marginalize a potential institutional competitor. Local elites became subservient to the military as well, which further decreased the need for a partnership with the bureaucracy. This served to remove a potentially powerful competitor for the military regime and fit the larger trend of the increasing encroachment of the military into the state. The nature of the reforms, though meant to increase democratization and participation, further served to entrench the power of military as the strongest institution in the country.
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Due to rapid urbanization and massive rural-urban migration in Karachi, the city is experiencing a Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) crisis. This crisis is not fully understood by the responsible authorities due to lack of credible and updated Solid Waste Management (MSW) baseline data, which is crucial for effective policymaking. This study focuses on analyzing the problem of MSW and its link with the political dynamics of Karachi vis-à-vis Sindh. The primary objective of this study is to understand the reasons behind the MSW crisis in Karachi and analyze this phenomenon through a political lens. The study evaluates the evolution of local governments in Karachi throughout the history of Pakistan, especially under General Musharraf’s Local Government Ordinance (LGO) of 2001, then compares it with the latest Sindh Local Government Act (SLGA) of 2013 and its impact on the performance of local institutions in the context of MSW in Karachi. The study argues that the reasons behind the MSW crisis in Karachi are primarily political in nature since Karachi’s political dynamics are peculiar and, control over the resources in Karachi is crucial to not only the political elite of the city but also, to the entire province. Although the 18th constitutional amendment in 2010 devolved power from the central government to the provincial governments, however, it created interesting implications for local government in Karachi which was enjoying comparatively more autonomy under a dictatorship The data collected for this study is predominantly qualitative in nature as the study aims to highlight the political and institutional processes relevant to SWM in Karachi. The data collected comprised of both primary and secondary sources. The lack of academic work makes it imperative to collate primary data. During the course of the study, some interviews were also taken, of the key people involved in the decision-making process of SWM in Karachi. The study also relies on grey literature such as press release, government, and private sector researches. The study finds that the current practices of SWM in Karachi are not sustainable and are causing a huge burden on the environment. There is a strong potential for reusing and recycling especially the organic fraction of the MSW in Karachi. Furthermore, this research also finds that administrative, financial and political powers under LGO 2001 were more devolved to the local government institutions in Karachi in comparison with SLGA 2013 which took a step back in terms of devolving adequate powers to the local bodies. SWM in Karachi cannot be made sustainable without allowing the local institutions such as KMC function. The task of SWM in Karachi has been taken by the provincial government of Sindh. The study concludes that Poor City-Province relationship in Sindh has negatively impacted basic municipal services like Municipal Waste Management (MSW) in Karachi. The power struggle between the two political parties in Sindh has affected the adequate devolution of administrative, political and financial power to the local government.
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