Civilian secretary for Multan municipality

IT is stated that a proposal has been made to have a member of the Indian Civil Service as Secretary to the Multan Municipal Committee. The reason assigned for this step is said to be the continued prevalence of religious and racial jealousies in the Committee there, to which prominence was given in the recent municipal administration report. While it is really unfortunate that municipal affairs there should come to be dealt with, as is observed by the Commissioner, only as party matters, it is hard to see how the appointment of an Assistant Commissioner will cure the evil. Even at present, the Secretary is neither a Hindu nor a Mahomedan but the fact has not apparently tended to an improvement in the state of things. The prevalence of sectarian differences is due in large measure to the election of men of extreme views as a result of the system of separate electorates. In reply to a question in the Legislative Council, the Government did not deny that separate electorates favoured the return of men of extreme views but said that the tension on the Multan Committee was of a date anterior to the introduction of the separate electorate system.