IPRI roundtable: New provinces must enhance governance
On Wednesday, the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) hosted a roundtable discussion about the necessity of new provinces enhancing public service delivery and governance.
The moot was attended by a very impressive cast of public policy practitioners, legislators, academics, and members of the media.
Former Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Executive Director Shakeel Durrani, former Federal Secretary Ishtiak Ahmad Khan, former Federal Minister Daniyal Aziz, former Ambassador Muhammad Hassan, former Federal Minister Zubaida Jalal, former Special Representative to Afghanistan Amb Asif Durrani, corporate and legal lawyer Hafiz Ahsan Ahmad, renowned jurist Dr. Shoaib Suddle, former Caretaker Minister Murtaza Solangi, and CEO of Dunya TV Naveed Kashif were among those who spoke at the roundtable.
According to the speakers, establishing new provinces is essential for the public interest and national security, and they emphasized the necessity for an organic solution to the nation’s current administrative and governance issues.
The Punjab province was said to be bigger than 196 nations. If today’s conflict is to be resolved with the expanding wants and necessities of a growing population, it leads to either redrawing of boundaries or redistribution of resources.
Converting administrative units into new provinces or combining multiple districts into new provinces are two of the more sensible possibilities on the table.
It was also mentioned that one of the main barriers in its path is the regional political class, who believe that the establishment of new provinces will harm their interests.
The problem is also left in limbo since regional parties do not view it through the same lens as the mainstream political parties. It was said that one practical approach is to let the parliament take the lead by forming a commission, or even better, a parliamentary committee that includes all relevant parties, including the media and intelligentsia, to establish new provinces following extensive consultations.
Dr. Rashid Wali Janjua, Director of Research at IPRI, moderated the conversation after President IPRI Amb Dr. Raza Muhammad introduced it. Janjua emphasized the administrative, economic, and political reasons why additional provinces were required.
The panelists clarified that converting the current administrative divisions into new provinces will greatly improve the delivery of public goods like law and order, urban amenities, and infrastructure development.
Daniyal Aziz asserted that the devolution of powers to local governments would enable the empowerment of citizens at the local government level, which was a crucial component of governance. The country’s shift from federalism to a unitary polity, which would require national agreement and constitutional revisions, could be the drawback.
The current administrative “Divisions” might very well serve as new provinces with manageable sizes for successful and cost-effective public service delivery, claim former bureaucrats Shakeel Durrani and Ishtiaq Ahmed.
They contend that the creation of new provinces from the nation’s current administrative divisions would enable the bottom-up approach to governance through efficient local governments with genuine fiscal and political devolution of powers.
The roundtable members believed that Pakistan would benefit from having more provinces if nations like Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Turkey could have 34, 38, and 81 provinces, respectively.
The absence of an efficient local government module in the governance system, along with interference and a lack of timetables to demarcate powers, was shown to be the main cause of the issue. As a result, there was a shift from high-level bureaucracy to increased disarray and issues.
Similarly, another factor contributing to the ongoing discord among the administrative entities is the explicit financial provisions.