Daily Times

For any democracy to truly prosper, the power to make decisions must lie with the people. If we study the excellence in governance achieved by the first world and compare its various aspects with the third, one of the stark differences you will notice is the absolute devolution of power to the most basic units of governance i.e. municipalities and local bodies.

Scandinavia is often cited as an ideal governance model for other countries to aspire to. For example, in Sweden, approximately 2/3rds of all public expenditure is made at the local level. In their 2018 local elections, the voter turnout was an impressive 83%. Copenhagen aims to become the world’s first carbon-neutral capital by 2025 by taking massive green initiatives from promoting cycling, sustainable infrastructure and green roofs. Reykjavik has an online platform which allows citizens to propose and debate local laws or city developments. In the US, San Francisco launched a zero-waste program aiming to send nothing to landfill sites. In Tokyo, the local government developed community centres and programs where older residents can socialize, learn and stay active and combat loneliness.

Such initiatives and empowerment at the municipal level have led to efficient service delivery, high levels of citizen participation, and a strong sense of ownership among the masses.

Replication of best practices

Many developing nations, including Pakistan, have for long stifled their social progress by concentrating power in the centre. This has led to massive red-tapism, a long list of unnecessary formalities, protocols, and lengthy procedures that have collectively only helped to widen the gulf between public service and its recipients.

There has been a realization that faults lie within the existing governance system and that change is inevitable.

But like every cloud has a silver lining, there has been a realization that faults lie within the existing governance system and that change is inevitable. In recent months, we have had Local Government Elections in Sindh, Balochistan and KPK.

Positive changes in the Department of Local Government and Community Development (LG&CD) of Punjab have also started to appear. The Honorable Chief Minister Punjab in the caretaker government, Mr Mohsin Raza Naqvi, handed the scribe the responsibility to transform public service delivery in the province via the department. His vision was to bring a good positive change in the brief tenure awarded. The first idea to implement was a reorientation and change of mindset of LG&CD from being a department-centric authority to a citizen-centric organization. We initiated this through a slogan named, “Ab Baldiyah App Ki”. Local government officers must know that they are in service of the public and not vice versa. Only with a service mindset can one meet the citizen’s satisfaction level and needs.

We all know that a marginal improvement in performance at the local level leads to a considerable noticeable improvement in people’s perception of the government at large. The department also established a Minister’s Complaint Center where anyone from anywhere in Punjab could lodge a complaint about anything. The scribe personally oversaw complaints and ensured that each was resolved at the earliest. This led to greater satisfaction among citizens, while the department and its staff also became aware that even minor complaints were heard at the highest level, making them more responsive to their duty.

A major realization that we had was the fact that Punjab did not have an elected local government representation. We had a clear idea of the importance citizen input has on effective and improved governance, and of the fact that our youth was also detached from the government, many did not even know what it did and even if it existed. To amend this, we launched the Volunteers of Local Government Program. We conducted a two-week province-wide volunteer recruitment drive and concluded by registering an astounding 10,000 youngsters, developing them into key allies that help the department improve service delivery. They were given the mandate to help and advise LG&CD in improving services, cleanliness and sanitation in their areas, lead plantation activities for beautifying cities, highlight shortcomings and help improve services offered by municipal departments.

The overwhelming response was proof that the people are willing to play a role in assisting authorities to improve public service delivery, and an initiative to engage the people at the grassroots level would be met with an enthusiastic response from the public.

Digitization in the LG&CD Ministry was another top agenda. In collaboration with PITB, we expedited e-tendering, e-bidding and e-auction systems to improve the transparency of the tender submission process. With the help of BOP and PITB, we approved e-stamping in property tax collection and tax on transfer of immovable property, this may help the province increase revenue in the fields from Rs 14 Billion to Rs 45 Billion.

Punjab has 118 cattle markets that are auctioned by the department annually, with last year’s auction revenue being Rs 3.75 Billion. Taking note of irregularities in the previous auction, we tasked the cattle market company to hold the auction transparently. We also increased the reserve price and made it equivalent to the going price of last year, despite resistance from some officials who opined that the action would fail to auction off the markets. We conducted the auction publicly and had it covered by local media and social media. The result? The markets were auctioned for Rs 5.56 Billion, an increase of almost 50%.

Another commendable feat that we were pushing was the digitalization of and doorstep delivery of services. With this vision, we launched the 1198 Badliyah Helpline. All basic issues of citizens, be it sewage, sanitation, cleanliness, street lights, stray dogs, certificate issuance or town planning requests like map approvals at TMAs could be resolved via the helpline. In place of the citizens, the department would now follow up on the tasks. This is convenience defined.

Punjab issues close to 1.75 million birth certificates annually through union councils, and citizens often complain of requests of ‘mithai’ worth Rs 2000 – Rs 8000 per certificate. Even at the lower figure of Rs 2000, the total excess paid by the people of Punjab comes up to Rs 3.5 billion a year, just in birth certificates. We collaborated with NADRA to digitize the entire process, enabling citizens to get death, birth, marriage and divorce certificates while sitting at home and without the usual over-and-above expenses.

Cleanliness and waste management a major issues and one of the key metrics of how citizens grade an incoming governance setup. To this effect, we conducted a massive 15-day province-wide cleanliness campaign – Punjab Safai Nisf Emaan Muhim. The results? Almost 200,000 tons of garbage were removed, 60,000 public awareness campaigns ran, 22,000 roads got washed, 10,000 slums got cleaned, 6,300km of sewerage lines got de-silted, 100s of empty plots got cleared, and over 1700 talks were held in schools and 3000 khutbahs were delivered on the topic in mosques.

Besides, the Lahore Waste Management Company was tasked with increasing operational efficiency and taking cleanliness levels in Lahore to levels never seen before. LWMC was blessed with good leadership and it was able to improve cleanliness considerably. Citizens reported that they started seeing the workers doing their job and places that had not been cleaned in ten years were being looked after.

Along with the improved cleanliness, the bigger win was that LWMC managed to save Rs 100 Million a month from increased operational efficiencies and laying off thousands of ghost workers. Later, for further improvement, we also empowered local governments across Punjab to issue fines to those found littering and initiate the arrest of repeat offenders.

The Punjab government’s recent actions speak volumes about the fact that positive change is not impossible if commitment is there, even in Pakistan. The provincial government’s recent actions regarding the local government are the right start and have set an example for incoming governments.

They are the beginning of a long road to shift the existing power structure. They are the first steps toward making Punjab’s local government system as effective as any other.

All we need is clear intent, will, and consistency.

The writer is a provincial minister.