Local Administration Ziarat
The local government administration in the district has two major components:
The Assistant Director, Local Government (ADLG) communicates with the District Council (representing the rural areas) and the Municipal Committee Ziarat. Functions to be performed by local bodies are laid down in Baluchistan Local Government Ordinance, 1980. A detailed list of these functions is given in Annex-4. The list is quite long. It includes most things that need to be done to improve the quality of life, and selectively contribute to socio-economic amelioration of the rural and urban centres in the jurisdiction of local bodies. The major concerns of local bodies, as listed in the 1980 Ordinance are: agriculture development, economic welfare, cultural activities, education, livestock and dairy development, public health, public safety, public works, and rural development.
The functions actually performed are, however, not as extensive as the list in Annex-4 might suggest. The local bodies main involvement is with water supply, sanitation, public safety (fire fighting), street/path improvement and cultural activities. Their overall performance in these areas is, however, not quite satisfactory, chiefly due to lack of finances.
Union Council
The union council is the lowest tier in the local government system. The district has four union councils. They have no development program of their own nor funds for this purpose. However, they perform a role in attracting government attention to local development problems by communicating these to the appropriate forum.
Town Committee
There is no town committee in this district.
Municipal Committee
There is only one municipal committee in the district - the Ziarat M.C. Its average annual income during 1991-92 through 1995-96 was Rs. 0.58 million; Rs. 0.65 million in 1995-96. The chief sources of income are octroi and taxes levied by the municipal committee which accounted for almost 85% of income of the committee during 1995-96. During 1991-96 it received grants totalling Rs. 1,075,000 from the government to meet its deficits; Rs. 800,000 in 1992-93 and Rs. 275,000 in 1995-96. Its official functions are the same as given in Annex-4, and briefly described earlier in this chapter, but in reality its activities are confined to sanitation, street/ path improvement, fire fighting, etc.
District Council
The Ziarat district council's office is located at Ziarat town. Its jurisdiction extends to all areas under the district's union councils i.e. all rural areas of Ziarat district. Its members are elected from rural and urban local bodies, as described earlier in this chapter. Officially assigned functions of the district council are given in detail in Annex-4. Its actual activities are far fewer. Its only source of income was the Zila (district) tax, which has been abolished. The district council, however, plays an important role as linkage between the union councils and the district/division/provincial administration and as a venue where the different union councils representatives meet.