1

PTI‟s Rural Governance

Vision

Empowering the Community

Pakistan‟s Rural Power Structure

Administrative structure created by the British for

the British continues

Rural elite created and supported for control of the

common man and the resources he produces

Centralized control, top-down approach

The rural elite continues its role

Politics in rural areas revolves around symbols of state

power

Police, Revenue, Irrigation, etc.

The common villager remains a pawn in the game of

power politics

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Pakistan‟s Rural Power Structure

All legislation on Local Governance in Pakistan has been

under military rules. (1959, 1979, 2001)

In 1959, the military government introduced the “Union

Council” as the basic building block of local government

It shifted power and functions away from the organically

developed “Village” ignoring traditions dating back centuries

All subsequent local government models compounded

the error by thoughtlessly assuming Union Councils

synonymous with the village community

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PTI aims give back the Power where it belongs - The

Community

Focus on the “Community” as the first building block

A “bottom‟s up” approach to replace the „top-down‟ system

Local Governance systems should be based on natural and

traditional structures that have evolved over centuries

It is only these time-tested structures which the Community identifies

with and owns

It is time that we commence rural governance from where

evolution has placed it –– The “Village”

PTI‟s Local Governance model will necessarily be Provincial

and shall reflect special features of a Province

PTI‟s Rural Governance Vision

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Local Government

Settlements

Mauza

Tehsil

District

Pakistan Statistics*

Districts 121

Tehsils 388

Union Councils 6028

“Mauzas” 52376

Settlements 170246

Source: Mauza Census 2008 ACO

* GB & AJK not included.

TM Admin

Union Council

Zila Government

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What is a “Village/Mauza”

A territorial unit with a separate name

Has definite boundaries, precisely measured area, divided

into plots / “khasras” with Survey numbers

A “Village/Mauza” is a “revenue estate”, having a separate

Record of Rights

Other names used for it are: Deh, Killi, Chak, Goth, Dhok,

Abadi

A “Mauza” ordinarily has one or more settlements

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Village/Mauza Disaggregated Data

Urban Mauzas 1099 2%

Urban/Rural mix Mauzas 1576 3%

Rural Mauzas 45906 88%

Forest Mauzas 439 0.8%

Unpopulated Mauzas 3356 6.4%

Total Mauzas 52376

Provinces Urban U/R Mix Rural Forest Un-pop TOTAL

Punjab 658 990 22951 288 2172 27059

Sindh 170 290 5283 96 144 5983

KPK 144 206 11334 25 145 11854

Balochistan 127 90 6338 30 895 7480

PAKISTAN* 1099 1576 45906 439 3356 52376

* GB and AJK not included

Source: Mauza Survey 2008. ACO 7

Average “Mauzas”

“Mauzas” in a District

Punjab average 620

Sindh average 400

KPK average 280

Balochistan average 300

Pakistan Average 400

Average “Mauzas” in a

Thana

31

Average “Mauzas” in a UC 8

Average “Mauzas” in a

Patwar Circle

4-5

Average Population of a

“Mauza”

2400

Source: Population Survey 1998 (adjusted), Mauza Survey 2008

Punjab

42

Sindh

14

KPK

39

B/tan

25

8

Punjab

2800

Sindh

3700

KPK

1700

B/tan

1100

Infrastructure in “Mauzas”

Facility Pakistan Punjab Sindh KPK Balochistan

Electrified 73% 84% 50% 70% 36%

Health

RHC/BHU 10.5% 12% 12% 8% 12%

Dispensary 9% 10% 14% 7% 6%

Education

Primary School 73% 86% 92% 78% 61%

Middle School 27% 30% 32% 35% 16%

High School 13% 16% 19% 17% 9%

College 4% 4% 7% 3% 3%

Metalled Road 54% 80% 70% 38% 20%

Public Transport 61% 70% 71% 67% 52%

Veterinary Cover

Public facility 11% 8% 11% 13% 6%

Private facility 15% 9% 24% 18% 4%

9 Source: Mauza Survey 2008

“Mauza” Fragmentation

Source: Mauza Census 2008 ACO

51%

20%

1 Settlement 2-3 Settlements 4-5 Settlements

13

% 7

%

6-9 Settlements

7

%

>10 Settlements

51% 24% 12% 5% 7% Punjab

3% 11% 23% 24% 37% Sindh

70% 14% 11% 3% 2% KPK

62% 19% 10% 4% 4% B’tan

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Village Governance – PTI‟s Model

Each Village / Mauza to be governed by an empowered

Village Council

Comprising an average of seven or more

Councilors elected for four years

Seats to be reserved for women

The national average population in a Mauza is 2400.

Punjab 2800

Sindh 3700

KPK 1700

B/tan 1100

One elected member for a Population ranging between

150 and 400 depending on the Province

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Elections to VC on “Open Free List System”

A Village need not be divided in electoral Blocks

Candidates do not need to contest against each other

The contestant obtaining the highest votes to be the

Chairman

One half Councilors – who obtained the minimum votes

– to retire after two years and replaced by freshly elected

Making the Village Council self renewing

Village Governance – PTI‟s Model

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Strengths of a Village

A village directly generates the following

financial resources:

Land Revenue, Abiana, Agri Income Tax, Registration

& Mutation Fees

The “Commodity Producing Sector” contributes

46.7% to Pakistan‟s GDP. This is all from rural areas.

Our systems, however give no right to the rural areas

to receive a fair share of what they generate or produce

13 Source: Economic Survey of Pakistan 2010-11

PTI‟s Vision of Rural Empowerment A Village must have sufficient money as a „right‟ to maintain

services and perform functions

For employing essential village staff and maintaining services

A Village must also have access to Development Funds as a

matter of right

Decades of neglect of Villages needs to be corrected

For the first time in Pakistan‟s history, Public Funds shall be

placed with the People

In the hands of the People, to be spent by the People

As per their self determined priorities

Without red tape

Public Funds belong to the People and they can be trusted with

them

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Village Funds for Empowerment Recurring Fund

Rs. 500,000 per average village (per annum) to finance core

functions for communal living

Chowkidar, Village accountant, sanitation, emergency

maintenance of public services etc.

Numberdari grant of land to be given to the Village Council

Development Fund

Rs. 20 lacs per average village (per annum) for investment in

infrastructure as per their self determined priorities

This would mean a direct investment of Rs. 1 crore per average

village over a 5 year period

Every year Rs. 125 billion will go directly to all the

Villages of Pakistan

Rs. 625 billion in a 5 year PTI tenure

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Village Funds for Empowerment Self Generated Fund

Village to be a body corporate which can enter into a

contract for provision of services

Establishment of cattle/vegetable/grain markets to end the

current exploitative Government/„Arthti‟ controlled market

regime

Integrating Overseas Pakistanis with the development of

villages of their origin or choice

Additional Financing window at District level

For Village sewerage and water supply

New schemes and rehabilitation of dysfunctional ones

On cost sharing basis

Maintenance to be VC function 16

State Support the New Village

Structure PTI‟s village self governance proposal is a paradigm shift

which will be facilitated for it to quickly strike roots

To protect VCs from the machination / manipulations of the

vested interests that shall lose power under the new system:

User friendly SOPs for functioning of VCs and use of Public

funds

All VCs to go through a process of familiarization with these

SOPs

A modern IT based system for Performance and Financial

Audits shall be installed for transparency and efficiency

Third Party Audit of all Village funds

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Legal Empowerment Of Village

VC to maintain village solidarity and unity through

Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods

Negotiation, Mediation and Reconciliation backed by Law

The objective is to resolve as many disputes as possible within

the village to reduce the burden of dispute resolution up the

chain

Village Council Chairman to be Justice of Peace under

Section 22A of the Criminal Procedure Code

Able to summon police for assistance

To be consulted for facts during investigation of an alleged

crime

To be consulted to help eliminate false cases

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Community Oversight of Public Services

A Village Council must be enabled to judge the

performance of government functionaries who so deeply

impact village lives

Thana Oversight Committee

One nominated Councilor of each VC to be a member

Meet at least once a month and review performance of Police

Different Committees from relevant VCs to oversee the

performance of:

Revenue Officials

Agriculture & Livestock Departments

Primary Healthcare

Elementary Education

Irrigation Department 19

Responsibilities of the „New‟ Village

The Village Council will ensure the following services:

Village Record Maintenance

Births, Deaths, Marriages

Establishing & Maintaining common village services

Preventive Healthcare

Sewerage

Solid waste management

Water Supply

Watch & Ward

Preventing / Removing Encroachments which are a

public nuisance

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Future of the „New‟ Village Bringing Economic Opportunities to the Village

The Village Bank

Banking sector and Pakistan‟s economy must benefit from

bringing the village communities into the official economy

The Village Council to act as an intermediary in bringing formal

Banking services to the Village

Thereby ensuring a breakthrough in provision of Agricultural Credit

to small farmers

Agro technology

Communal Dairy farming services

Aggregating small farmer demand for inputs

Etc. etc. etc.

21

Taking PTI‟s Community

Empowerment Model to an

Urban Setting

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Pakistan‟s Urban Governance

Structure Cities potential usurped by Provincial Govts.

Cities generate Taxes on Properties, Water Rate etc

However, these are fixed and recovered by Provincial Government

agencies

City functions stand usurped as well

Development Authorities established (KDA, CDA, LDA, MDA, FDA)

Water and Sanitation Agencies

Parks & Horticulture Authorities

Environmental Protection Authorities

Traffic Engineering Authorities

Prime Ministers and Chief Ministers behaving like Mayors

Multan, Larkana, Lahore

23

PTI‟s Urban Governance Vision All Urban Governance functions to go back to the

Municipality

City Government to be the sole custodian of Urban

governance

City Government to raise independent revenue for city

development

Fund investment in Urban infrastructure by innovative

instruments

Municipal Bonds etc.

Provincial Government role

Policy formulation

Standard setting

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PTI‟s Urban Governance Vision

Self governance fund on “Village Model” for “Nano”

Urban communities

Mainstreaming overgrown villages that are now small

rural towns

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1

1.5 5

5 2

2

4

5 3

4

Category Type

1 Very Good

2 Good

3 Un-Satisfactory

4 Bad

5 Very Bad

“Nano” Urban Communities

New Cavalry Grounds

Cavalry Grounds

Ra

ilw

ay L

ine

Ku

tch

y A

ba

di

Madina

Colony CG

Extension

RA Bazar

s

Nishat

Colony

Walton

Colony

Super

Town

Old Super

Town

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All over rural Pakistan, hundreds of Villages have turned

into Towns

The Government mostly ignores this reality

The 2001 Local Government Ordinance also ignored their existence

These „overgrown‟ Villages have lost their rural character

Advantages of being a Village lost

Advantages of being a City nowhere in sight

They are not getting the infrastructure that is synonymous with

urban areas

These „over-grown villages‟ must also be given specialized

treatment which helps them transform smoothly into a City

The Forgotten Rural Town

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THANK YOU

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