Sindh Local Government Amendment Bill 2021 passed amidst ruckus

KARACHI: Pakistan Peoples Party on Friday managed to pass the Local Government Amendment Bill 2021 in the Sindh Assembly amidst protest by the opposition.

Provincial Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah tabled the amendment bill.

Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, while addressing the session, said that the suggestions of the opposition would be taken up on the local body election laws and the town system was being brought on the collective recommendations put forward by all the parties.

As per the amendment bill, district status will be replaced with towns in metropolitan corporations of the province, including Karachi and each town will have a population of around 0.5 million to 0.75 million people.

Under the new amendment law, the municipal agencies will no more manage primary healthcare centres and the Sindh government will take a charge of Karachi Medical and Dental College and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

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Miscellaneous points of Sindh Local Government Amendment Bill 2021

According to a copy of the amendment bill received by Bol News, the town system under former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf will be restored in the province through the Sindh Local Government Amendment Bill 2021.

Under the proposed new bill, local bodies will be empowered, towns will be introduced in the metropolitan system by abolishing districts.

District councils will be abolished and town municipal corporations will be set up while garbage collection and water and sewerage would be under the supervision of the mayor.

In the new local government system, the mayor and deputy mayor will be elected through proper election instead of a show of hands, while the mayor and deputy mayor can be chosen by any individual.

The term of local bodies in Sindh expired on August 30, 2020, after that the Sindh government had been asking for a respite to hold a local body election.

The Election Commission of Pakistan had asked the Sindh government to complete all the work by November 30 and hand over the necessary documents to the commission.

On the other hand, the Sindh High Court, while hearing the case regarding holding of local body elections in the province, had remarked that the attitude of the provincial government shows that it is not serious in holding local body elections.