Nasim Ahmed


How many provinces should there be in Pakistan? It started with the proposed Seraiki province and now there is no end to proposals to create two, three and more new provinces out of the existing ones. The ball was set rolling by the PPP and now it is up in the air with everyone trying to catch it.

The National Assembly resolution on a new south Punjab province has been followed by a resolution in the Punjab Assembly in favour of giving provincial status to Bahawalpur in addition to creating a south Punjab province. If it is a game of one-upmanship, the PML-N has effectively countered the PPP's move to win over voters in the Seraiki belt. PML-N has also proposed that a national commission be established to discuss the issue of creating new provinces on historical, political, economic and administrative grounds and look into the complex issues of demarcation of new provincial boundaries and distribution of water and other resources.

If the PPP's intention was to merely use the issue of a Seraiki province as a political slogan to win over voters in the region, it now finds itself in a situation where it has to address the question seriously from a national perspective. A virtual Pandora's box has been opened with a babbel of voices from various provinces clamouring for their own pound of flesh. All kinds of formulas - reasonable, unreasonable, outlandish and weird - for creating new provinces are being propounded.

The PPP started with one province, while the PML-N has proposed two more provinces for the Punjab. From some quarters the demand for a Potohar province has also been voiced.

On the other hand, the demand for Hazara province is a long standing one and has a strong backing from the people in the region. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, FATA is another candidate for provincial status.

In Balochistan, there is a latent demand for a Pashtoon province, while some people have proposed a separate province in Balochistan comprising its coastal belt. The movement for Karachi as a separate province is dormant at the moment but can spring to life any time, depending upon the rise and dip in the country's political temperature. And not to be ignored is the proposal by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to convert all the divisions in the country into provinces.

So, it is virtually a hornets' nest that the PPP has stirred. The genie has come out of the bottle and will not go back into it any time soon. If the PPP opts for a Seraiki province, how can it resist the demand for a Bahawalpur province or, for that matter, a Hazara province? Or the demand for any other province if the people of the area want it? If we go beyond sloganmongering and consider the issue on the basis of principle and merit, then the only way forward is to set up a national commission to go into the whole gamut of issues relating to the creation of new provinces as suggested in the recent Punjab assembly resolution. In this connection, it is pertinent to ask: if the backwardness of Seraiki Wasaib is the reason for demanding a new province, then will the political elite of south Punjab do something to solve the basic problems of the people? Because, many of its members have previously held high positions of power and authority but did little to develop the region.

The proposition that smaller units make for better governance and management of local problems is tenable. But, in our case, the situation is complicated and convoluted. There is an explosive combination of factors which militate against any benefits accruing from the creation of smaller provincial units: a political and bureaucratic elite which is extremely greedy, corrupt and callous; lack of an efficient local governance structure; and a largely illiterate population under the control of the local feudal and unaware of their rights.

The proposal for new provinces in the Punjab is easier made than implemented. There is a host of administrative, organizational, economic, legal and associated issues that need to be sorted out before such a step can be taken. The proposed national commission, among other things, will have to develop a consensus on the basic criteria for creating new provinces. Other crucial issues to be addressed are prior agreements on the boundaries of new provinces, working out a new national finance award, a new formula for distribution of river water and construction of new link canals and barrages. Other requirements include construction new courts, provincial secretariats and other infrastructure facilities.

Where will all the money come from to meet the new administrative expenditures involved in creating new provinces? But much more important than this is the issue of an agreement among all political parties in the country on the basic criteria and requirements for forming new provinces. A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority which will not be available, if the major parties remain at loggerheads on the issue as is the case now.

-Cuttingedge