Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Measures Ahsan Iqbal says the federal government will ensure transfer of funds from NFC to local governments to help solve problems at the grassroots level.

He was talking to a 15-member delegation of Local Council Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Mardan, which called on him in Islamabad today.

The Federal Minister said that the fate of the people of Pakistan depends on how effectively the local governments are solving the problems related to service delivery in health, education and municipal administration.

He said after the eighteenth amendment, the powers given to the provinces have not been effectively devolved to local governments. He said that if the powers given by the federation to the provinces are accounted for, the efficiency of local governments will become clear.

The federal minister emphasized that the local bodies should get the same support that the provincial bodies are receiving.

The federal minister further said that the centralization of powers in each province is at the upper level, which needs to be transferred to the lower level immediately. He made it clear that education, health, and municipal services are in poor condition.

The federal minister said that 50 thousand local bodies were destroyed in Punjab during PTI tenure which was a massive blow that affected public.

During the meeting, the Federal Minister was given a detailed briefing regarding the problems of local governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The delegation told the Minister that the local governments in the province had been paralyzed for more than three years and the PTI government had given no administrative and financial support to 30 thousand elected local government representatives in the province.

The delegation of local government representatives told the federal minister that the elected local government representatives will also hold a protest outside Adiala Jail on December 17 to plead for their rights.

Ahsan Iqbal supported the protest and said that the federal government will fully support their constitutional and legal powers and rights.