Present local government divides the local councils into two categories, rural local councils and urban local councils. Rural local councils are the union council and the district council. Urban local councils include the town committee, municipal committee, municipal corporation etc. At the time of notification, Jhall Magsi district had only rural councils. In 1994, the status of Gandawah union council, which is also the district headquarters, was enhanced to the level of town committee.

The members and chairmen of the councils are elected. The administrative set-up of the councils in the district is as follows. At the top is the assistant director local government, followed by a chief officer. On the sub-divisional level, every sub-division has a development officer which is usually called D.O. The secretary town committee is followed by the secretary union council, who is the lowest level administrative officer.

District Jhall Magsi has twelve union councils. These union councils are divided into fifty-seven wards. Union Council Patri has most wards, i.e. eight. Only one member is elected from each ward. The minimum number of wards for a union council is three. Decisions in these councils are arrived at after discussion and through a democratic procedure. Usually, decisions are based on consensus. As far as the planning of development is concerned, in many cases it is dictated from above and based on influence exerted by various parties.

A union council, according to the ordinance, performs thirty-eight functions. These functions are grouped under the headings of public work, public health, education, agriculture development and economic welfare, articles of food and drink, drainage and functions regarding rural development. But in practice, union councils perform only two functions, i.e. lighting of the bazaar and cleaning of the village streets. In addition they also complete the schemes regarding rural development, which are awarded to respective union councils. As in the case of functions, the ordinance also provides a long list of different sources of income for the union councils. But actually the major sources of income are confined to octroi and provincial government resources. Many union councils of the district are handicapped as far as financial matters are concerned. Their expenditure is more than there income. Therefore, they have to meet their deficit through government grants.

There is only one town committee in the district, in Gandawah. The committee was installed three years ago. It is still going through the process of establishment. The town committee of Gandawah comprises four wards. Its total population is about 3,900 people and has a total number of voters is 2,393. Income is gathered through taxes like octroi and Kangi house tax called Dhak. The total income of the committee from the above mentioned sources is insufficient. It was Rs. 16,500 in 1995-96 and Rs. 51,065 in 1996-97 only.

In the local government ordinance, thirty-five different functions are assigned to the town committees. However, Gandawah town committee performs only the following functions: taking care of the bazaar (Chokidari), clearance of drains, cleaning of streets and lighting of streets. In addition, UNICEF provides material for flush latrines and hand pumps, which are subsequently distributed by the union councils and the town committee.

At present (1997) there is no Municipal Committee in the district Jhall Magsi.

The district council Jhall Magsi came into being in 1992, when it was notified as a district.

Jhall Magsi District Council has 16 members in total, of which 12 representatives of the union councils. One member is elected from each union council. One of its members is elected as chairman. Four other members, comprising two female, one peasant and one worker representative, are elected as a councillor by the other members. These four councillors represent their social class. The only source of income of the district council is Zila tax. In addition the council receives grants from the provincial government. The total income of district council Jhall Magsi was Rs. 785,664 in 1995-96 and the same amount in 1996-97. Zila tax is levied on commodities which are imported or exported from the district. This tax income is spend on recurrent and development expenditure.

In theory, the district council performs the same functions as the union council. Further, the district council may undertake some other functions including dairy development in the area, promotion of the culture and issuing appropriate measures for public safety. To perform all these functions the council needs more funds than its budget allows. Therefore, the district council depends on the provincial government’s schemes for the district.

The district council is a very important local government council, but usually it becomes the victim of political rivalries. Members belong to different political groups and parties create many problems for the functioning of the council. An assessment of the district council Jhall Magsi and other district councils has highlighted the need for its effective functioning.

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