By Zahiruddin
CHITRAL: All the seven sub-tehsils in Chitral district are being run without naib-tehsildars (NTs) for the last five years as a result of which the affairs of the basic administrative units are being looked after by junior clerks.
Chitral had been divided into seven sub-tehsils of Chitral proper, Drosh, Arandu, Lot Koh, Torkhow, Mulkhow and Mastuj in 1954 administered by naib-tehsildars who used to discharge the same functions as did the DC in the district and acted as a bridge between the government and the people in the grass root level.
A former union council chairman in 1980s, Zar Qabool said that the NTs were the most vibrant and effective tools of administration who supervised the other departments in their area as well including dispensary, schools, food warehouses, roads, water supply schemes and bridges apart from their functions on revenue side.
He said that the post of NT in a sub-tehsil was not left vacant even for a day and if an incumbent went on long leave, the look after charge was given to that of the nearest station as if the heaven would fall in his absence.
“The most venerated officer of the area, the NT had become a icon of the government in the lowest level and conversant with the local cultural traits and traditions, his decisions and decrees were acceptable to the people who solved the issues before they flared up.
The NT kept the law and order situation in his area by negotiations in the rudiment stage and his report was given due credence by the sub-divisional and district administration and the AC or DC rushed to the spot with senior police officers.
The abolition of the office of commissioner as a result of the so-called devolution of power plan introduced by Pervaiz Musharraf in 2001 proved highly counterproductive as the NT was nowhere in the new system which was devoid of any apparatus or tool to fill the vacuum of this officer”, he said.
Recalling an episode of mid 1970s, he said that when a DC on his visit to one of the high schools of upper Chitral, asked a senior student in the class room to name the highest officer of the district, the answer was ‘naib-tehsildar’.
Mr. Qabool was of the view that good governance was closely connected with the posting of NTs selected by the public service commission and imparted training on general and revenue administration who will be more useful for the public than ever before by coordinating the efforts of the representatives of local bodies.
As per information gathered from the office of Chitral DC, four posts of tehsildar (BPS-16) in the tehsils Chitral, Drosh, Mastuj and Mulkhow and all the eleven posts of NTs (BPS-14) were vacant while in five out of them junior officials are working.
