MANSEHRA: The chairmen of village and neighbourhood councils on Sunday alleged that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was derailing the local bodies system in the province.

`More than a year has passed since the installation of local governments in the province, but we are still without development funds.

Now the provincial government is also going to deprive tehsil councils of their rights to present and approve bud get forthe curren thnancial year,` Basharat Ali Swati, the chairman of Safada village council, told journalists after a meeting here that was attended by the chairmen of village and neighbourhood councils from different parts of the district.

The meeting through a unanimously adopted resolution demanded of directorate of local governments to set aside its plan to approve tehsil councils` budget on its own and follow the local government law, which gave that right only to respective council.

`The chairmen by virtue of their offices are members of tehsil councils and have a right to debate and approve development and non-development budget of their respective bodies,` said Mr Swati.

The chairman of Lassan Thakral village council Malik Mumtaz said that Peshawar High Court had stayed elections ofpresiding officers only in 11 tehsil councils but the province government postponed elections of the same offices in all 141 tehsil councils across the province.

Abdul Qayyum, the chairman of Mera Amjad Ali village council, said that planning and development department imposed a complete ban on approving, tendering and executing development projects.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2023