haudhry Aslam, a resident of Satellite Town, Jhang, has been complaining for several weeks about an overflowing sewer in his street. The wastewater ponding has not only made movement difficult but also raised the risk of water- and vector-borne diseases. Aslam has lodged complaints with the sewerage department and at the TMA office and met some of their officials in person. However, the sewer has not been fixed.

Aslam says when local governments were functional, local councilors saw to it that such problems were promptly fixed. “Now, citizens are forced to visit one office after another; nobody listens to them,” he laments.

Muhammad Ashraf, a resident of Jhang Saddar, says streetlights in his neighbourhood have been out of order for months, raising the risk of accidents and street robbery. He says he filed a complaint over phone and when no action was taken for several days, visited the concerned offices — only to come back disappointed. He agrees that an elected councillor would have been effective.

Effective, autonomous and financially empowered local governments are essential for ensuring service delivery at the grassroots level. The evolution of local government institutions in the country has witnessed various stages.

Pakistan’s first local government elections were held during General Ayub Khan’s martial law regime. In 1959, he introduced the Basic Democracies system, establishing union councils and town committees as fundamental local bodies responsible for civil registrations and small-scale dispute resolution. In 1972, the system was abolished, restoring an earlier structure of non-elected councils. However, the 1973 constitution required the establishment of elected local governments.

Gen Zia-ul Haq introduced the Local Government Ordinance in 1979, leading to four non-party local government elections in 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1991. Under this framework, urban and rural councils were given key responsibilities including public works, health, education, sanitation, agriculture, public safety, livestock, environment protection and culture. However, these institutions had limited powers. They were dissolved in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 1991, in Sindh in 1992 and in the Punjab in 1993. Formal local governance remained suspended until revived under Gen Pervez Musharraf.

During Musharraf’s administration, local government elections were held nationwide in 2001 and 2005. The Local Government Ordinance of 2001 established a new administrative structure consisting of district, tehsil and union council tiers. Although this model drew criticism for undermining provincial autonomy, it was widely acknowledged as effective devolution of authority to lower levels. District administrations were led by elected nazims, tehsil municipal administrations were overseen by elected tehsil nazims, and matters at the union council level were managed by elected union nazims. The system was one of the most inclusive local governance structures in Pakistan’s history, providing for representation of women, minorities, farmers and laborers.

The system was provided constitutional protection through the 17th Amendment and lasted until 2009. After the protection expired, provincial governments were hesitant to introduce new frameworks. This delayed the establishment of successor local bodies. The 18th Amendment obligated provinces to create local government systems under Article 140-A of the constitution. Despite this requirement, progress remained slow. Between 2010 and 2015, provinces worked on legislation only after intervention by superior courts. Balochistan passed its law in 2010; the remaining provinces adopted their legislation in 2013. Even with legal clarity, the formation of effective and empowered local governments continued to lag behind.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the PTI government introduced a new district government model in 2013. However, following the amendments made in 2019 the district governments were dissolved and authority shifted to the tehsil level. Elections were postponed until 2021. In the Punjab, the 2013 framework resembled the 1979 model. Elections were held in 2015 and the elected councils assumed office in 2017. Following the 2018 change in provincial government, the system was weakened further and powers curtailed. In 2019, a new law was adopted and the elected councils dissolved. The Supreme Court restored them in 2021 but their term expired soon after. A fresh ordinance was introduced but failed to secure approval from the provincial assembly, rendering it ineffective.

The short-lived PML-N government in April 2022 introduced the Punjab Local Government Act, 2022. It was later replaced by another Act of the same name under the PTI-led government of Chaudhry Parvez Elahi. The local government elections under these laws were never held. This left bureaucrats in charge of local bodies.

In Sindh, too, local government elections suffered significant delays. The 2013 law required polls in 2020. Due to some legal complications these were completed in 2023 under the Sindh Local Government Act, 2021, which incorporated representation for transgender persons and individuals with disabilities.

In Balochistan, elections meant for 2019 were held from 2022 to 2023. In Islamabad, no local elections have taken place since 2015. An increase in the number of union councils led to the postponement of the 2023 polls as well.

The record shows that local governance institutions were consistently strengthened under military regimes. The primary reason was that military rulers lacked a democratic public mandate at the provincial and national levels. They, therefore, relied on grassroots administrative structures to provide limited relief while claiming political legitimacy. This is why local governments became a tested tool for military governments to secure popularity and consolidate power. Gen Ayub Khan, Gen Zia-ul Haq and Gen Pervez Musharraf used local governments to reinforce their political credibility.

The situation has been different under elected governments. Elected leaders at the provincial and national levels appear to see empowered local governments as a threat to their authority. As a result, the continuity of the system has frequently been uncertain. The bureaucracy has also been a major obstacle to the devolution of administrative and financial powers. In the absence of elected local councils, authority shifts to commissioners, deputy commissioners and assistant commissioners.

Not long ago, during a session of the Punjab Assembly, a group of government and opposition lawmakers jointly reiterated the need for a strong system of local governance. The session was organised by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives as part of its Open Assembly Dialogue Series, aimed at fostering transparent dialogue among citizens, policymakers and other stakeholders to identify governance solutions. The participants included the Punjab Assembly speaker, members of the provincial legislature, civil society representatives and governance experts. The speakers emphasised the central role of local governments in the administrative structure of the province and highlighted the constitutional requirement under Article 140-A to ensure that local bodies are fully empowered—financially, politically and administratively. They also stressed the need for improving collaboration between parliamentarians and local governments, expressing concerns over the shortcomings of the 2001 Local Government Ordinance. Additionally, they underscored the need for greater financial autonomy, including improved systems for local revenue generation and fair distribution of resources, along with more inclusive policies to address the needs of religious minorities and other marginalised communities.

There is a pressing need for constitutional safeguards for the local governments so that no provincial government can dissolve or suspend them at will. Timely elections are also essential. Provincial governments should align their laws with the Elections Act 2017 and ensure that the Election Commission holds local elections without delays. Financial autonomy must be ensured by granting funds under the Provincial Finance Commission and establishing stable and functional systems in both rural and urban areas. Increasing direct representation of women, minorities, youth, persons with disabilities, transgender persons, farmers and labourers will make the system more inclusive and responsive. Local governance laws must strengthen transparency, accountability and community participation, while ensuring that bureaucrats remain answerable to elected representatives and local governments have a meaningful role in planning and executing development projects.

Such reforms are essential for building a transparent, autonomous and efficient governance system at the grassroots level. They will enable better service delivery and reinforce the connection between the state and its citizens—ensuring that public authority truly reflects public needs.

The writer is based in Jhang