Islamabad: According to the recently promulgated Punjab Local Government Act 2019, every fourth district of the province is to have a metropolitan corporation — resulting in the creation of eight such new bodies in addition to the existing one in Lahore, a news source reported.
To date, Lahore alone enjoyed the status of a metropolitan corporation. However, the newly eight districts include Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Dera Ghazi Khan, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi, Multan, Sargodha and Sahiwal.
Additionally, there will be 16 municipal corporations, 134 municipal committees, 136 tehsil councils and 160 town committees established in the province. For a city to be categorised as a metropolitan or a municipality, the minimum population criteria has been set at a quarter million people.
As per Section 9 (1) of this act, an area with distinct urban features may be categorised as a metropolitan, a municipality or a town. Similarly, under Section 9 (2), all areas comprising the Lahore district and the other eight new districts are expected to have a metropolitan.
Moreover, under Section 18 of the act, each local government will comprise of a directly elected head, a head’s cabinet comprising specified number of councillors and experts, and a council comprising councillors including a convener.
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