COMMISSIONERATE SYSTEM VS LOCAL

GOVERNANCE SYSTEM 2001

By: Abdul Rahman Malik












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Table of Contents



Introduction .......................................................................
Brief History ......................................................................
Commissionerate System .....................................................
Local Governance System .............................................
Comparison of Both System ...........................................
Which system is better ........................................................
Findings .
Recommendations
Conclusion..
Bibliography






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COMMISSIONERATE SYSTEM VS LOCAL
GOVERNANCE SYSTEM 2001

By: Abdul Rahman Malik

Pakistan has been influenced by British colonial rule when it
was united with India popularly called the subcontinent . The British raj
gave some wonderful systems to be carried over by the successful
governments which includes railways , policing , judiciary , land revenue
and local governance . Both India and Pakistan have been over influenced
by the British colonial rules which are still kept intact as our legislators
have not bothered so far to either revise these obsolete laws and acts or
produce alternatives to replace those old acts and laws whose efficiency
has diminished with passage of time and after advancement in the technology
as well as rising population , these laws need amendments and addition of
new paras.
However, all laws could not be done away with overnight as
enough time will be required to present a well balanced and effective policy
to either make any amendments in the laws or devise new ones keeping in
view the ever increasing demands of the time .

Keeping in view the ever increasing demand of Local Governance
system to make the idea of providing lasting peace , devolving
Administrative , Governance , and Financial Powers at District , Tehseels
and Union Council levels , General Pervez Mushharraf tasked the NRB
Chairman Daniyal Aziz to prepare the Draft of Local Government
Ordinance 2001 . Daniyal Aziz along with Committee members consulted
the various Public Policy and Governance experts , arranged Seminars and

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Discussions regarding the proposed Local government Ordinance 2001 and
finally getting inputs from all the stake holders finalized the Draft and
presented in the assembly for approval which was approved unanimously.

The local bodies System introduced by General Pervez
Musharaf gave great Administrative , Financial and Local Governance
powers to the People of Districts and City Governments . The People got
easy access to Executives at district level and got their queries solved in
their Districts which saved their precious time of travelling to Divisional
and Provincial Head Quarters for common purposes . It was very first time
that Districts were given financial autonomy and Finance and Planning
Departments were devolved at district level as 150 Years Old
Commissionerate system had no provisions to devolve or decentralize the
Financial system to account IV from account I .

This step greatly helped the various line departments to prepare
their budget estimates and get releases from finance and Planning
Departments executives . It was also very first time that Police act of
British Colonial times was replaced with Police Order 2002 separating
Operation and Investigation branches of the police and renaming the
Designation of Superintendent of Police as District Police Officer (DPO)
working under the supervision of Nazims and District Coordination Officers
of grade 20 .

The Commissionerate system was influential in terms of
matters related to Governance since it served the purpose of Provincial
Governments as powerful control over the Financial , Administrative and

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Governance Powers considered the people as subjects rather than as equal
citizens and had no provision for community Supported Governance
where the Communities could have free will and wish to suggest
development schemes or Programmes for social ,economic and cultural
activities .
The Commissionerate system had long maintained their
supremacy in civil services since Indians retained Indian Civil Service but
Pakistani elite had named their civil service as Central Superior Service
means those who cleared the English dominated Competition were
Superiors to the society . Now , if you named them superiors , how would
they serve the cause of community who seek lasting solutions to their
Problems . They had easily became the Superiors and started considering
the poor segments of the society as inferiors . Moreover , these civil
servants broke the records of corruption in administrative matters as a result
people got sick of them and wanted a new system based on the principle of
Justice at the door step , say in the matters related to the community and
the matters related to governance , participatory planning and monitoring
the working of local administration as well as employees of public or social
service departments such as Education , health and Community
Development .

The revival of 150 years old obsolete system also served the
interests of Political pundits who get posted the District Executives such
as Deputy Commissioners , Superintendents of Police ,Assistant
Commissioners (ACs), Mukhtiarkars of revenue , District Educations
Officers and even Station House Officers SHOs of their choice so that
they may maintain their influence and dominancy over the District

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Administration and get their interests served by hook or crook . The
District Government Heads such DCs and Police Heads play in hands of
powerful Feudals who are at the same time , elected MNAs and MPA, .
But the Irony is that in some provinces , the MPAs and MNAs have been
given the control of TMA,s and Other Departments to establish their
influence and misappropriate the funds meant for the Sanitation , Public
Places , Communication and Development .

The Local Bodies System 2001 was no doubt a gift for the
people of Pakistan to have been implemented with due attention and
making it transparent through some amendments . The USAID , ADB ,
World Bank and AusAid had pledged great support for improvement and
sustainability of the system . The Programmes such as Sindh Devolved
Social services Program SDSSP , Decentralization Support Program by ADB
, Districts that work by USAID and Devolution Trust for Community
Empowerment were the prominent Programmes which provided Financial
Grants to Districts , Capacity Building of Officers of District Governments
, Budgetary Consultative Workshops , revenue generation at District Level ,
Tax , OZT Collection etc . These wonderful programmes also helped the
districts to devise Policies and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and
Governance Reforms by training the Nazims , Naib Nazims , Councilors
and Officers of the District .
The Local Governance Ordinance of 2001 had also introduced
new departments at district level such as Civil Defense , Law Department
, IT Department ,Finance and Planning Department along with Old
Departments of Education , Health , Revenue , Agriculture , Food and
Works and Services ,Community Development Departments headed by

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EDOs and DOs and DDOs etc . Though the number of Executive
bureaucrats was maximized but it served the interests of the public and
who got their issues solved by approaching the concerned departments of
District .

It would be interesting to know that schemes such as crosses ,
brick pavements and CC Blocks or Drains were approved locally by the
Union council Nazims or Tehseel Nazims which gave relief to the public
where as in commissionerate system Deputy Commissioners have been
given three Millions Annually for Operational and Grant in Aid purposes
which is really insufficient amount at the disposal of Deputy Commissioners
to serve the needy people submitting appeals to the District Executive .
Where as in Local Bodies District Coordination Officers had 2 Billion
Rupees at their Disposal in terms of Salary , non salary , grant in aid and
Development purposes . At the same time they had complete financial
autonomy since funds were placed at district Governments Account-IV
released by DCOs , EDOs Finance and Planning through District Accounts
Officers . There was great check and balance over the release of funds and
their proper utilization since monthly utilization and internal audit provision
in each department of District .
The Union Council were provided 100000 to 200000 lac per
month for development and salary purposes . Tehseel and District Nazims
were preparing the Annual budgets themselves with help of Finance and
Planning Departments with budget estimates from all the departments
through DDOs . This greatly helped the Elected representative of the
Taluka and District councils to learn the legislative and governance
dynamics at grassroots level .

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This greatly encouraged community empowerment through
engagement in development and Financial planning for the communities who
voted them and supported them in non party based elections . Most of the
previous Nazisms won the elections in General Elections for MNA and
MPAs since they had been able to groom themselves as Public
representatives and the Local Bodies Platform greatly served as nursery for
such future Leaders who have been entrusted with duties of Policy Making
and Implementation at Provincial and Federal Level .

The Flaws may be related to control of financial components
since no watch dogs for monitoring the Executives were available at district
level . The check and balance was a bit loose but was not loose at all that
it may have been replaced with the Colonial Commissionerate System which
heralds that we are not free from the influence of British Raj and we still
endorse and sustain the laws and acts made 150 years ago . The World is
not the same as it was 150 years ago nor the problems and needs are the
same as they were in those days .

So why we get stuck to these oldies why not try the new and
improved ones. The System introduced after open discussions and
consultations are reversed or replaced on the pretext that it was introduced
by Military ruler .A person can be bad due to his behavior but if someone
gives you the change with clear road map then its our duty to appreciate
the concept and mould it according to time and consequences rather than
making it controversial through useless and averse comments that
something was introduced by a dictator . Then the question will pop up in

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every bodies mind that Commissionerate system was the production of
British who occupied your land and made you slaves then
commissionerate system must be despised of more than the Local Bodies
System of 2001 introduced by Pakistani Soldier .

The previous argument regarding a system introduced by Musharaf
,has no base or weightage since it does not quite satisfy the reason to change
the modern Community based approach to One man show at the districts
where no public opinion is regarded , no timely relief is provided but the
people have been subjugated to obey the orders of the local feudal ,
DCs , Commissioners with little options but to approach courts for relief .

The Commissionerate system is very old and obsolete may be
considered as the dead horse but the Provincial Governments are stuck to
it and resurrected it again in worst format which does not serve the interests
of common men . Some provinces such as Punjab is running a blend of
Local Governance and Commissionerate system which may be good
experiment but the other provinces such as KPK , Baluchistan and Specially
Sindh has stuck to this dead horse which has held the whole governance
system in abeyance .Commissionerate System may have pleased the
bureaucrats who seem to have regained their former powers but will
continue to haunt the common men by serving the will of feudals and
playing in their hands.

It is , therefore , ardent wish of the people to do away with
bureaucratic influenced system and introduce the Community participated
and represented system to build the confidence and solve the ever

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growing problems of unemployment , law and order situation , financial
constraints and justice at the door steps .This may happen when the leaders of
Pakistan specially the provincial leaders will give serious consideration to
local Governance issues , community participation and sustainable
Development in order to put Pakistan on the right track leading to progress
so that the idea of a welfare state could be materialized . After eighteenth
amendment , it is mandatory upon the provincial Governments to devolve
the Administrative , Financial and Local Governance Powers at District
and Union Council level to make the dream of a brighter Pakistan a reality.


References:


1. Local government system in Sind: includes Sind Local Government Ordinance, 1979.
By Sind (Pakistan). Sind Local Government Board.; Book : State or province government
publication ,Language: English Publisher: [Karachi] : Sind Local Govt. Board, 1981

2. Local government system in Sind. By Sind (Pakistan).;
Book: State or province government Publication, Language: English, Publisher: [Karachi] :
Sind Local Govt. Board, 1981

3. Mahmood Ali Shah :Sardari, jirga & local government systems in Baluchistan
Book, Language: English Publisher: Quetta: Qasim Printers, 1992.

4. Munawwar Alam :An introduction to the local councils system in Sindh & elections
United Nations Development Programme.; Norway. Direktoratet for
utviklingshjelp. Book Language: English, Publisher: Islamabad : Electoral Processes
Resource Centre, 1999.

5. Munawwar Alam : Managing change in local governance
Andrew Nickson; , Book Language: English ,Publisher: London,
U.K. : Commonwealth Secretariat, 2006.

6. The Sindh Local Government Ordinance, 2001
7.
Amended Up To December 27, 2002 ,Chapters related Governance and Administration

8. The Sindh Local Government Act, 2013
http://www.sindh.gov.pk/dpt/Local%20Government/THE%20DRAFT%20SINDH%20L
OCAL%20GOVERNMENT%20ACT%202013.pdf