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Technical Note

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Institutional Change For Poverty Reduction: A Note on Devolution Reforms in Pakistan

Muhammad Ajmal


INDUSTRY : Poverty Alleviation

AREA : Devolution & Governance

ORGANIZATION : Soan Valley Development Programme

LENGTH : 22

LUMS No : 20-007-2006-2

PUBLICATION YEAR : 2006

DESCRIPTION

KEYWORDS:

Institutional Change,Devolution,Governance,Poverty Reduction,Devolution Reforms,Pakistan


DESCRIPTION:

Good institutions and sound policies can play an important role in improving governance, stimulating economic growth and reducing poverty. Devolution Reforms introduced by the Government of Pakistan in August 2001 are a major governance initiative that has radically changed the existing structures and processes at the local level. Implementation of these reforms have not yet made decisive improvements in the poverty situation which, according to different estimates, is still rising in Pakistan. There is also the issue of unequal distribution of resources especially land in rural Pakistan. The dominance of a few land-owning families in local politics at the district, tehsil and thana level has manifested itself in elite capture of local bodies through the institution of district and tehsil Nazims. There is also a problem of institutional rivalry particularly between the provincial government and new local government institutions. However, the presence of a large number of councilors, provisions for adequate representation of women and disadvantaged strata of society, along with keeping momentum of progress in political, administrative and fiscal decentralization, can act as a countervailing force to established rural elite and may augur well for the sustainability of these reforms. In this context there is a need to fasten the pace of administrative and fiscal decentralization, reduce institutional rivalry, build the capacity of key actors, enhance meaningful accountability of the police and give more freedom to provincial governments to tailor the local body system according to their needs. Efforts to reform distribution of land should also prove very helpful. 


LEARNING OBJECTIVES:


SUBJECTS COVERED:

Governance