No Lahore District Assembly session for almost two years

[Naveed Yaseen]

* Female member claims district assembly reduced to approving annual budgets
* Says DA has failed to meet legal requirements for session since new government came into power

By Rana Kashif

LAHORE: Members of the Lahore District Assembly (DA), or zila council, have been waiting for a proper assembly session to conduct their business for almost two years, as their scheduled sessions have failed to meet the legal requirements for an assembly session.

A female member of the DA, requesting anonymity, said the provincial capital’s assembly had become a forum to pass the annual budgets of the district government and was not conducting any other business. She said it had been expected that the DA, under the current political setup, would be run in a more efficient and democratic manner, but the situation had actually become worse than it had been in the past. She said the DA was responsible for a lot of work in the areas of the respective members and served as a forum for the members to raise their voices regarding the problems facing their constituents.

Failure: Criticising the current government, she said the DA had failed to meet the legal requirements for its sessions since it had come into power. Citing the Punjab Local Government Ordinance (PLGO) 2001, she said it was mandatory for the DA to meet at least once a month, but it had not met since July 16, 2009, when it presented the non-development budget. She said without a proper session, the members of the DA could not present resolutions; raise calling attention notices; or forward motions of public interest. Similarly, another female member said an assembly that could not meet regularly and was discouraged from calling its sessions was useless.

She claimed the government should not indulge in politics of vindictiveness, adding local government institutions — particularly the district assembly — should be strengthened.d.

Another member said it was beyond his understanding why the government was not promoting a more conducive environment to allow the elected assembly to conduct its business. He also demanded that the DA sessions be summoned more frequently, claiming it was a legal and democratic requirement.

No idea: District Assembly Convener and Lahore Naib District Nazim Idrees Hanif was not available for comment despite repeated attempts to contact him. However, in an earlier statement, he said that he was unable to understand why the government was not nurturing a political and democratic environment that would allow the DA to conduct its legal business. Meanwhile, DA Council Officer Assad Shah said he could not say when the next DA session would be called.

According to the PLGO 2001, the DA is responsible for approving long term and short term development plans; annual and supplementary budgetary proposals of the district government; electing committees of the DA to monitor the performance of the district government; reviewing the monitoring committees’ quarterly reports on the performance of the district government; and making recommendations to the district government to enhance the care of the disabled, poor, aged, sick, abandoned minors, juvenile delinquents, drug addicts, victims of child abuse, needy and disadvantaged persons. The DA is also responsible for ensuring the district government undertakes measures for good governance and improvement in the delivery of services.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...009_pg7_31