It was resolved that the federal ministry of labour, local government and environment would consider a project proposal to identify and document models of good practices, where citizens' organisations have shown greater efficiency than the government authorities to deliver municipal services. It was hoped that these case studies would feed into the ongoing process of devolution of power and integrate peoples' initiatives with policy.

Federal minister of labour, local government and environment Mr. Omar Asghar Khan, Punjab minister of information Mr. Shafqat Mehmood, director of sindh katchi abadis authority Mr. Tasneem Siddiqui, Mr. Fayyaz Baqir of UNDP, administrator Karachi municipal corporation (KMC) Mr. Faheem uz Zaman, administrator Administrator District Municipal Corporation (DMC) Karachi West Mr. Umar Khan and representatives from the JRC participated in the event.

Background

Briefing the participants about the background of this brainstorming session, Mr. Fayyaz Baqir told that the LIFE-GEF (UNDP), federal ministry for local government & rural development and JRC had planned in November 1999 to work together on issues relating to the devolution of power and ultimately to acquire an operational document for its implementation. 

This session had to frame issues of devolution of power as envisaged earlier, but now, he said, many government and non-government bodies - NGOs, donors and authorities - had also picked the theme. So, it was appropriate for us to reconsider areas of our proposed operation and revise it so that it does not overlap the work done by other groups. Rather, they should be complementing each other.

He informed that the UNDP has been engaged for the last two years with various citizens' initiatives that work hand in hand with municipal authorities. He cited examples of Lohdran, Uchch Sharif, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan (Punjab) and Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP), where such work was now in progress at different stages. He also referred to Capital Development Authority (CDA) that had lent Tasneem 
Siddiqui's expertise to rehabilitate its katchi abadis in partnership with the UNDP. 

Mr. Fayyaz Baqir suggested that to devolve power to municipal governments, a census-based-analysis should be applied to categorise cities on the basis of their population sizes. He said that case studies of big, medium and small cities would help us to understand issues of devolution of power, municipal government, and effective service delivery mechanisms. 

Plans at the centre

While appreciating the UNDP-JRC effort, Mr. Omar Asghar Khan said that the session had provided the policy makers to a chance of exchange between themselves and to inform each other the status of current developments being done on the devolution plan in their respective jurisdictions. He noted that Punjab and the NWFP provinces had still far led other provinces in this regard.  While, the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) would share a framework of devolution plan with the federal ministry at the end of March this year.

Owing to recent programmes on the devolution plan by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) and Asia Foundation, the civil society, he said, has also contributed to the consultative process on the devolution plan. Here, he also appreciated daily The News in organising a nation wide seminar on the issue. 

Mr. Omar Asghar Khan said the devolution plan also implies power shifting from the centre to the provinces and evolving comprehensive political and electoral reforms for the future. He noted that a link of civil society with the municipal bodies has to be established. He, however, observed that devolution of power from the centre to the local levels is a huge task, which the present government is determined to do. For this, political reforms will also have to be part of the package, he added.

He said that the devolution plan is being done in the context of forthcoming local government elections to be held in October this year. The federal ministry would also propose guidelines for these elections that army would monitor, he added.

He suggested thinking about locating trial areas for good governance. That can be done when all sides would compile policy recommendations for the devolution plan. In Punjab, he said, Environment Protection Committees have already been set up. 

Such sector specific citizen's committees should take 15 to 20 towns for trial purpose, create a civil society engagement with the municipal authority and act as animators for assessment of the utility of whole devolution plan all over the country.

Development in Punjab

Mr. Shafqat Mehmood, Punjab minister for information, elaborated on work done by the Punjab government to gain an operational and thorough plan for devolution of power. He attributed the contemporary devolution plan to chief executive's direction after October to empower the grass root levels.

He said that the devolution plan firstly posed the question as to whether we remain in the local council act, or to amend them thoroughly. He told the Punjab ministries were focussing to the local government perspective rather than community empowerment models propounded by the civil society, whom he called 'brilliant but isolated actions'. Hence representation rather than community participation.

He told that his team in the Punjab cabinet was working within the context of the proposed elections.

There was also thinking prevailing to establish some sort of a co-ordinating body at the Tehsil and sub-divisional level, which would be un-elected in its nature. This would actualise the idea of district government, where even the district administration would not be a unified authority, rather, the powers would remain with different committees set up for the respective services. 

Mr. Shafqat Mehmood advocated to divide larger cities into further partitions inhabiting not more than 2- 2.5 lakhs of people, to envelope more ownership and interaction issues for the municipal system.

He said that the Punjab government surpassed quickly of conceptual definition of power to its practicalities; powers of bureaucracy and police systems, etc.
He thought that community should police itself and the people's committee should handle the smaller matters. That implied municipalities with police powers. He also advocated Punchayat-like organisations with ability to enforce law relating to local disputes. Small cause courts and the institution of municipal ombudsman could address this issue. Jury kind of concept at urban centres is also another such idea. Given the clogged and unworkable judicial system, local dispute resolution at the local levels, he said, was a better alternative to unchain from the incumbent judicial system that is unable to deliver.

He told that powers of bureaucracy, police, and judiciary in local disputes are being reviewed. Likewise, the Punjab government is working on different alternatives for health administration, education, revenue and finance system, and development plans to disperse powers to the gross root levels rather than a centralised system. Institutional reforms are also on the agenda and handled by a group, while a local council financing group works under the provincial minister Mr. Shahid Hafiz Kardar, he added.

He hoped that by the end of this month the Punjab government would be able to complete first conceptual draft for the devolution of power. 

Small is beautiful

Mr. Tasneem Siddiqui stressed to change the macro planning and development paradigms towards a micro perception where basic necessities of people can be met as demanded by them currently.

He said that the devolution plan is being talked about at various forums but he apprehended that this could equally confuse the whole issue. He said that a distinction between long and short-term reforms has to be made and that it should also consider the potential of the existing system and its better implementation rather than focussing on to completely over-hauling the system at this stage. 

Otherwise the current exercises can turn into wastage of time and resources, and duplication will occur between the works of those involved with the devolution plan. 
He emphasised the need to assess available resources and to integrate the good practices of service delivery done by people's organisations, where the successive governments have been failed, at the policy levels. 

He viewed that the delivery system of the government i.e. sewerage, drainage, housing etc. have been failed. The whole system has been challenged and taken by new actors in the informal and NGOs sectors. The ground realities, he said, calls for first to identify these new changes and pool their work to the government's. 

Change in the institutional and philosophical frameworks, he added, should be part of the long-term planning, because at present people are craving just for basic services that have to be met now. He further said that our guiding principle is that the government has to deliver.

He also said that reform is a long-term process in its administrative, technical and planning terms, where the government has lost capacity to address them single-handedly. So the policy makers will have to benefit from other actors also and correct its weaknesses by incorporating good practices demonstrated by the non-government sector.  The devolution plan should be a collaborative effort from the both, which can then be facilitated by international donors.

He said that we would have to identify and document cases of good practices as our focal points, which could also serve as training institutes for the government personnel. 

Peoples' models of good practices 

Here, Mr. Fayyaz Baqir seconded Mr. Siddiqui's opinion and said that successful approaches initiated by the people should be adopted by the policy. He also suggested to institutionalise the whole devolution plan that requires changes and not imparting whole new packages at present.

He also pointed to the transparency aspect of devolution plan and the need to access to information, so that the ordinary citizens have the right to demand any municipal document for public scrutiny.

He viewed to compile the case studies of good practices done by the people and to integrate them with the government. These case studies will strengthen the municipal administration, he added.

Urgency for the devolution plan

Mr. Shafqat Mehmood here explained the haste that is confronted by the government. He said that he has never seen such seriousness on the devolution plan in his life long political career. To him, it was a window opportunity for those who are committed to the issue.

Change in the development paradigm

Mr. Sami Mustafa saw a serious intellectual vacuum regarding the devolution plan. He said that it was the fourth government that is going to address it, but when small things are not happening then how can the larger issues be handled which have been mostly the centre of our devolution debates.

He advised to keep small things and basic services in view rather than subscribing to academic exercises.

He cited his own group's example there who worked in collaboration with the education ministry but now with the change of government, the same ministry declined to recognise its work without giving any explanation. He told that they brought out a conceptual manual as curriculum development and an elementary book for the text book board but the ministry is not turning up to adopt it. Here, Mr. Omar Asghar Khan promised to look into the matter and discuss it with the relevant ministry along with Mr. Sami Mustafa.

Decentralising the authority 

Mr. Faheem uz Zaman stressed to decentralise authority not the resources and suggested reform for the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC), while Muhammad Umar Khan shared his experience of working with the District Municipal Corporation (DMC) and suggested reforms to decentralise the municipal system.

Information gaps

Mr. Iqbal Haider Butt asked to make distinctions between the long and short objectives regarding the devolution plan and emphasised to fill the information gap. Enacting the Freedom of information Act, 1996, prepared by Fakhr ud Din G. Ebrahim, he said, could do this. He also pointed to weak associational work among the people and to safeguard it by constitutional work, so that people are able to effectively aggregate their interests and monitor the government. 

Mr. Omar Asghar concluded that the government responds where robust public movements are there to check and guide it. He sited examples of Chitral and Malakand in this regard. He said that we would have to scale down such good practices in It was decided that the JRC would submit a proposal to UNDP, Life-Gef programme, for preparing case studies of such good practices tentatively identified as Lohdran, Faisalabad and Rawalpindi  and would do advocacy for their integration with the policy. Executive Director of JRC Mohammad Tanveer moderated the session.

List of participants

Fahim-uz-Zaman
Administrator KMC

Fayyaz Baqir
National coordinator Life-Gef UNDP

Iqbal Haider Butt
Joint director JRC

Mohammad Tanveer
Executive director JRC

Mohammad Umar Khan
Administrator District Municipal Corporation (DMC)

Omar Asghar Khan
Federal minister for labour, local government & environment

Sami Mustafa
Consultant

Shafqat Mahmood
Minister for information, Punjab

Tasneem Ahmed Siddiqui
Director Sindh Katchi Abadi Authority