Governor Chaudhry Ghulam Sarwar has approved the Punjab Local Bodies Ordinance 2021, making it into a law, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

The provincial cabinet after passing the Punjab Local Bodies Ordinance 2021 sent it to Governor Sarwar for his approval. The governor on Saturday put his signature on the bill and made it a law. 

The governor said the Punjab Local Bodies would empower people in a true sense as Prime Minister Imran Khan had vowed to devolve power at grassroots level.

He was of the view that it was the PTI government priority to strengthen the state institutions. Making local bodies autonomous was prime minister’s dream. For the very first time, people would directly elect mayors through their votes. 

The governor said as per the new ordinance, mayors would be given the chairmanship of important institutions. He stated that local government elections would be held on party basis in Punjab. 

He further informed that there would be a total 11 metropolitan corporations in Punjab and in Lahore there would be only one metropolitan corporation. 

Apart from 9 divisional headquarters of Punjab, Gujrat and Sialkot would also attain the metropolitan corporation status.