Critique of the functional assignment architecture of Punjab’s local governance legislation of 2013 & 2019

Abstract

In 2013 and 2019, the local government legislation of the province of Punjab in Pakistan saw two rounds of major changes – each of which led to a new local government Act being passed. In 2013 the changes were driven by constitutional and judicial requirements and in 2019 by the political will of Pakistan’s new coalition government. This article analyses and compares the functional assignment (FA) architecture of the two Acts against a set of parameters. The study finds that marginal improvements to the FA architecture introduced by the 2019 Act are offset by continuing inconsistencies and lack of clarity over ‘who does what’ in the functions assigned to local governments. The authors suggest that improving the functionality of local governments requires full implementation of the design features of the new system, including institutional strengthening of provincial-level entities which regulate and oversee the local government system. Introduction Functional assignment (FA) is a diagnostic approach which seeks to specify the exact roles and functions of each level in a system (i.e. ‘who does what’). In recent years it has become a key concept in the academic discourse on decentralisation and local governance, following a growing realisation that judicious FA choices are an important component in the division of power and functions in a multilevel governance system, and a key element of strategies to strengthen the functionality of subnational governments (Ferrazzi 2005; GTZ 2009; Ferrazzi and Rohdewohld 2017). As a technique, FA has gained considerable traction in Asian-Pacific countries, and can be seen in Indonesia (Ferrazzi and Rohdewohld 2017), India (Aiyar 2015; Davis 2016), Cambodia (Ferrazzi and Rohdewohld 2017; Moazzam Ali Janjua Independent Development Consultant Islamabad Pakistan Email: majanjua58@outlook.com