Pakistan is a

federal republic A federal republic is a federation of Federated state, states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means a country that is governed by elected re ...

with three tiers of government: national, provincial and local. Local government is protected by the constitution in Articles 32 and 140-A, and each province also has its own local-government-enabling legislation and ministries responsible for implementation. District councils and metropolitan corporations are respectively the highest rural and urban tiers of local government in the provinces. Both urban and rural local government have two or three tiers in all provinces except

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

, where councils are not identified as either urban or rural. There are 129 district councils across the four provinces, 619 urban councils made up of one city district, four metropolitan corporations, 13 municipal corporations, 96 municipal committees, 148 town councils, 360 urban union committees, and 1,925 rural councils. Additionally there are 3339 neighbourhood, ‘tehsil’ and village councils in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Legislation

In response to the failure of central/provincial governments to account for local preferences, the

National Reconstruction Bureau The National Reconstruction Bureau (Reporting name: NRB) of Pakistan was an independent and constitutionally established federal institution tasked with economic recovery and prosperous development through the local government system. It was di ...

(NRB) designed a local government system which was presented in the blue print "Devolution Plan 2000". Consequently, a new local government system was implemented on August 14, 2001, after each of the four provinces passed the Local Government Ordinance, 2001.

Levels

Provinces

The country is composed of four

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s and one federal territory: the provinces of

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, and the federally-administered

Islamabad Capital Territory The Islamabad Capital Territory is a federal territory of Pakistan, centred around Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is located on the northern edge of the Pothohar Plateau, at the foot of the Margalla Hills, in the northwest of the ...

. Additionally, Pakistan also administers two autonomous territories in the

disputed region A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of territories (land, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the pos ...

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

and

Gilgit-Baltistan Gilgit-Baltistan (; ), formerly known as the Northern Areas, is a region administered by Pakistan as an administrative units of Pakistan, administrative territory and consists of the northern portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has b ...

. Due to the ongoing Kashmir dispute with neighbouring

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, it also claims

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

over the

union territories Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own state government systems. Unlike states, Union Ter ...

Jammu and Kashmir Jammu and Kashmir may refer to: * Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), a region administered by India as a union territory since 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (state), a region administered by India as a state from 1952 to 2019 * Jammu and Kashmir (prin ...

and

Ladakh Ladakh () is a region administered by India as a union territory and constitutes an eastern portion of the larger Kashmir region that has been the subject of a Kashmir#Kashmir dispute, dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947 and India an ...

, but has not exercised administrative authority over either region since its

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

and subsequent war with India in 1947–1948.

Divisions

The five provinces, capital territory of Pakistan are subdivided into 37 administrative "divisions". These divisions were abolished in 2000, but restored in 2008. The divisions do not include the Islamabad Capital Territory or the defunct Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which were counted at the same level as provinces, but in 2018 the Federally Administered Tribal Areas were subsumed into Khyber-Paktunkhwa Province and allocated to neighbouring divisions therein.

District

A district (, ''zillah'') is the first tier of local government. In total there are 149 districts in Pakistan, of which several are

city districts A city district, also known as an urban district or neighbourhood, is a designated administrative division that is generally managed by a local government. It is used to divide a city into several administrative units. City districts are used ...

. A District Government or a City District Government and Zillah Council form the governing body, with the ''

District Coordination Officer District coordination officer (DCO) was the administrative head of the newly formed district and city district governments on 14-Aug-2001 in Pakistan and a senior officer (grade BS20/21) belonging from the provincial (executive PCS) or federal gov ...

'' serving as the administrative head. The District Governor or ''Zila Nazim'' used to be the executive head of districts until 2010, when the government shifted power to the District Coordination Officers. Their role is similar to district governors, with responsibility for implementing government strategy and developing initiatives arising out of it.Zila Nazim job description

Tehsil

Among the three tiers of local government, Tehsil government is its second tier. It is where the functions, responsibilities and authorities of districts government is divided into more smaller units, these units are known as "Tehsil". The Tehsils are used in all over the Pakistan except Sindh province where the word "Taluka" is used instead, although the functions and authorities are the same. The head of the Tehsil government is "Tehsil Nazim" who is assisted by the tehsil Naib-Nazim. Every tehsil has a Tehsil Municipal Administration, consisting of a Tehsil council, Tehsil Nazim, tehsil/taluka municipal officer(TMO), Chief officer and other officials of local council.

Union Council

A Union Council is the basic tier of local government in Pakistan. Each Union Council consists of a certain number of members, including a Union Administrator and a Vice Union Administrator, who are elected through direct elections based on adult franchise and on the basis of joint electorate. The Union Administrator serves as the head of the Union Council and is responsible for overseeing the administration of the council. The election process for Union Council members is organized and conducted by the Chief Election Commissioner. The elections are held on a non-party basis, and candidates are required to be residents of the union council area. The elections are typically held every four years, although the exact term may vary depending on the province. In addition to the general seats, there are reserved seats for women in the Zila Council, which are proportionately divided among Tehsils or Towns. The election to these reserved seats is held separately, and all members of the Union Councils in a Tehsil or Town are eligible to vote. The Union Council has a range of powers and functions, including: * Providing basic services such as water, sanitation, and roads * Maintaining law and order * Promoting economic development and social welfare * Collecting taxes and fees * Approving budgets and development plans Each Union Council has a secretariat, which is headed by a Secretary. The Secretary is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the council and for implementing the decisions of the council. The Union Council also has a number of committees, which are responsible for specific areas such as finance, development, and social welfare. The Union Council is the lowest tier of local government in Pakistan, and it works closely with the Tehsil and District governments to deliver services and implement development plans. The Union Council also receives funding and support from the provincial and federal governments.

Notes

References

External links

Government of Pakistan: Local Government overview
{{Asia topic, Local government in Government of Shaukat Aziz