Lahore: The provincial cabinet, in its 20th meeting on Tuesday, gave its approval to the amendments proposed to the Punjab Local Government Act 2019 – according to news sources. The session was conducted under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar; who was joined by several other prominent government officials to take part in the proceedings.
Under the amendments, the electoral panels or political parties will be permitted to participate in the local government elections. Religious minorities have also been given the right to vote for both reserved and general seats. Any complaints that may arise will be resolved by the Election Act, while the Returning Officers will be responsible for announcing the results.
The meeting also approved the amendments to the Punjab Village Panchayats and Neighbourhood Councils Act, 2019.
The establishment of succeeding local governments was approved under the Punjab Local Government Act, 2019. This will allow approximately 455 local governments to be constituted around the province. Additionally, the cabinet approved the delimitation of local areas under the Punjab Demarcation of Local Areas Rule 2019 as well.
Furthermore, the revision of the Punjab Municipal Services Programme was also approved. This made it the local governments’ responsibility to complete the roads’ repair and maintenance operations.
In a bid to promote tourism, the cabinet approved the heritage and urban regeneration project being conducted at the Lahore Fort and its buffer zone. This will include the restoration of many of its dilapidated sections, and the setting-up of a museum within its walls. The work will be carried out with a soft loan of USD 25.8 million that has been provided by the French Development Agency.
The cabinet meeting also decided to declare Nakhchivan (a city in Azerbaijan) as the sister city of Lahore, and okayed the signing of an official memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard.
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