PTI, JI and PPP town chairmen attend consultative meeting: Minister for transformation of LG structure into fully empowered model

KARACHI: Sindh Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, on Wednesday, stressed the transformation of the local government structure into a fully empowered and modern financial model; otherwise sustainable solutions to urban challenges are not possible.

The provincial government is now moving towards major reforms and enhanced collaboration with international development partners to strengthen town corporations.

The Minister was presiding over a high-level consultative meeting of town chairmen from across Sindh was held under the banner of the Sindh Local Council Association, attended by chairmen representing PTI, Jamaat-e-Islami, PPP and other political parties.

The meeting, for the first time, brought together multiple parties on one platform and opened the way for joint policy formulation for local governance. Representatives of the World Bank and CLICK also participated.

Shah said that under the new digital taxation model, towns demonstrating better revenue recovery would receive special incentives, technical support, additional funding and targeted development grants.

World Bank officials informed the participants that Sindh’s urban towns had shown performance beyond expectations in recent years, after which a new revenue framework, digital collection system and fiscal discipline mechanism were being prepared. These proposals, they added, are expected to be incorporated into the upcoming provincial legislation.

The Minister said that the formation of the Local Council Association was a necessity of the time and all towns that have not yet joined should immediately become part of this platform so that power and decision-making may effectively be transferred from the provincial tier to the grassroots level.

He said that the Sindh Government had decided to reactivate the Provincial Finance Commission, which will ensure fair distribution of resources.

The summaries had been moved to increase salaries and pensions of local government employees, while a new taxation model was being introduced to enhance the allowances of councillors and strengthen the financial autonomy of towns. This, he said, would enable municipal institutions to undertake development schemes without relying solely on external funds.

During the meeting, town chairmen presented recommendations related to transfers and postings, solid waste management, sanitation, town planning and reduction of non-development expenditures.

The World Bank agreed to integrate these proposals into next year’s local government development package.

The meeting was also addressed by Kamil Haider Shah, Gul Muhammad Jakhrani, Farhan Ghani and others, who said that the Association would act as the lead policy forum for local governance in Sindh and help define the future roadmap for urban administration.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025