Pakistan does not need provinces of identity – Seraiki, Hazara, Karachi, South Punjab, Bahawalpur, Potohar. Pakistan needs provinces of delivery – schools, clinics, policing, water, sanitation. Pakistan does not need rulers; Pakistan needs managers.
The debate must move from ethnicity to efficiency. The debate must move from identity to accountability. The debate must move from slogans to service delivery.
The 18th Amendment moved power from Islamabad to provincial capitals. The next amendment must move power from provincial capitals to citizens. The district is where the citizen lives. Therefore, the district must be where the state delivers.
Lahore cannot feel the pain of Rajanpur. Karachi cannot feel the thirst of Thar. Quetta cannot feel the distance of Gwadar. Peshawar cannot feel the isolation of Chitral. A citizen in Dera Ghazi Khan, Gwadar, Tharparkar, Chitral, Khuzdar or Rajanpur should not have to look toward Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar or Quetta for every decision. Power must be local.
Pakistan does not need new ethnic provinces. Pakistan needs administrative provinces. The cleanest formula is this: one district, one province. Pakistan has around 169 districts and a population of 242 million. That means the average district-province would serve roughly 1.5 million people – large enough to govern, small enough to be held accountable.
Today, Punjab alone has 128 million people. Sindh has 56 million. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 41 million. Balochistan has 15 million. These are not provinces in the normal administrative sense. They are mega-states. One chief minister cannot effectively govern populations larger than many countries.
Red alert: Pakistan’s problem is not too much federalism. Pakistan’s problem is too little federalism below Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta. Right now, the federal government blames the provinces. Right now, the provinces blame Islamabad. Right now, departments blame each other. Right now, districts blame lack of funds.
One district, one province ends the ethnic-province trap. One district, one province brings the government closer to citizens. One district, one province creates direct accountability. One district, one province corrects the post-18th Amendment imbalance. One district, one province improves development outcomes. One district, one province strengthens national unity.
Over four years, the federal government and the four provincial governments together spent Rs12 trillion on ‘development’. That equals roughly Rs72 billion for each of Pakistan’s 169 districts – each district averaging around 1.5 million people spread over nearly 5,000 square kilometres.
Imagine what Rs72 billion per district could deliver: schools that function, clinics that heal, clean water that reaches homes, sanitation systems that protect families, roads that connect farms to markets. Cold truth: The money was there. The delivery was missing.
One district, one province does not divide Pakistan by language. One district, one province reorganises Pakistan by administration. Digital secretariat. Strict expenditure caps. No new governor houses. No new VIP colonies.
Each district’s chief executive would have a budget, a school plan, a health plan and a development scorecard. Citizens would know exactly whom to reward. Citizens would know exactly whom to remove.
The writer is a columnist based in Islamabad. He tweets/posts @saleemfarrukh and can be reached at: [email protected]
