Districts

Pakistan

Districts of Pakistan are local administrative units inherited from the British Raj. They form third-level Administrative Division in Pakistan after Provinces and Divisions. Districts were generally grouped into administrative divisions, which in turn formed provinces. Pakistan has 160 districts (including ten in Azad Jammu and Kashmir). They are known as zillas in Urdu. They comprise villages, towns, and cities. A district is headed by a district nazim (mayor), who is an elected official (in local body elections) and the local controller of the district level officers of all the departments under provincial government, while Deputy Commissioner is the executive head of the District usually Grade-18 officer from Pakistan Administrative Service. Deputy Commissioner is entrusted with overall responsibility of law & order, implementation of government schemes and is also authorized to hear revenue cases pertaining to the district. The district mayor (nazim) heads an elected district council composed of councilors, who represent various district-level constituencies. The councils have a constitutional requirement to be composed of a minimum of 33% women or more than that.