The Punjab government has placed key municipal bodies under the direct administrative control of district officers, appointing deputy commissioners as administrators of municipal corporations at divisional headquarters and the Municipal Corporation Sialkot. Additional deputy commissioners (Municipal Services) have been designated administrators of all municipal committees located at district headquarters. The changes, effective immediately, were notified by the Local Government and Community Development Department under Section 76 of the Punjab Local Government Act 2025.
The notification, copy of which is available with Daily Jang, partially modifies an earlier order issued on May 30, 2024. The order was issued in Lahore on Sept 24 and published in an extraordinary issue of the Punjab Gazette on Friday by the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Department. Under the revised arrangement, the deputy commissioners of the districts which are also a divisional headquarter will administer municipal corporations.
The Deputy Commissioner, Sialkot, will serve as administrator of the Municipal Corporation Sialkot. The Additional Deputy Commissioner (Municipal Services) of the respective district will administer all municipal committees housed at district headquarters. The notification modifies entries at serial numbers 2, 4 and 6 of the earlier order.
It covers municipal corporations at divisional headquarters, the Municipal Corporation Sialkot and all municipal committees located at district headquarters. The order does not change the administrative status of local governments not included in the revised entries. The move places the day-to-day administration of the affected municipal institutions under senior officers who already oversee district-level government operations.
The designated administrators will be responsible for ensuring the continuity of municipal functions and coordinating civic services with the wider district administration. Their responsibilities will include supervision of sanitation, solid-waste management, water supply, drainage, street maintenance, municipal regulation and other functions assigned to the relevant local governments under the law and applicable rules. The arrangement is also expected to improve coordination between municipal bodies and departments dealing with revenue, public health, development, police and public infrastructure.
Such coordination is particularly important in matters involving encroachments, land, development schemes, emergency response and the provision of essential services. The notification comes as the Punjab government continues to reorganise the local government system under the Punjab Local Government Act 2025. Section 76 empowers the provincial government to make administrative arrangements relating to local governments in accordance with the law.
The appointment of deputy commissioners and ADCs (Municipal Services) as administrators reflects the government's decision to entrust the specified municipal bodies to officers with established administrative authority at the district level. Deputy commissioners coordinate the work of provincial departments in their respective districts, while ADCs (Municipal Services) deal with municipal affairs and civic service delivery. Their appointment is therefore intended to provide a clearly defined administrative chain of command for the local governments covered by the order.
The revised arrangement took effect immediately upon issuance, making the concerned deputy commissioners and ADCs (Municipal Services) responsible for the administration of the specified municipal corporations and committees without the need for any further order.