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Pakistan’s latest debate over administrative restructuring offers an opportunity far more consequential than simply creating new provinces or redrawing boundaries. The real opportunity is to rethink how the state is organised, how authority is distributed and, above all, how government can be brought closer to the people.
Political parties, policymakers and experts are increasingly calling for new administrative units, stronger local governments and greater fiscal devolution. The debate is rightly moving beyond geography towards governance, service delivery and institutional reform. The country does not necessarily need another layer of distant government. It needs more effective, empowered and democratically accountable centres of government closer to where people live.
One practical way forward is to transform suitable existing administrative divisions into Autonomous Administrative Regions/ Units (AARs). Pakistan already has administrative divisions that can provide a natural starting point. Rather than creating entirely new bureaucracies, selected divisions could be progressively transformed into AARs based on population, geography, economic linkages, administrative convenience and local aspirations. The objective would not be to reproduce provincial governments on a smaller scale.
An AAR would be a democratically governed regional development and service-delivery authority, with clearly defined responsibilities, its own budget, professional administration and elected leadership.
AARs could become the missing link between provincial policy and local service delivery, allowing large provinces to remain intact while bringing political, administrative and economic decision-making substantially closer to their populations. AARs must be elected institutions. Each AAR should have a directly elected regional council for a fixed five-year term. The council could elect a regional chief executive, or the people could elect the chief executive directly. The region must derive its authority from the people. The council would approve the regional development plan, oversee regional departments, scrutinise expenditure and hold the regional executive accountable. Citizens should know exactly who is responsible for regional infrastructure, secondary healthcare, technical education, investment promotion, tourism, agriculture, transport and other assigned functions.
Districts and municipalities should likewise have directly elected governments with clearly defined responsibilities. Each level would have defined functions, resources and accountability. The federation should concentrate on responsibilities that genuinely require national scale: defence, foreign affairs, currency, macroeconomic policy, national taxation, strategic infrastructure, national energy policy and national standards. Provinces should retain legislation, regulation, standards, provincial taxation, equalisation and overall oversight. AARs should focus on regional development and implementation. Their responsibilities could include regional economic planning, investment facilitation, industrial development, tourism, agriculture, regional roads and transport, secondary healthcare, technical and vocational education, skills development and major regional infrastructure.
District governments should focus on frontline services – primary healthcare, schools, water and sanitation, local roads, social protection and citizen services. Municipal and tehsil governments should handle what citizens experience every day: waste management, streets, markets, building control, parks, local transport and civic services. The objective is to make responsibility visible.
AARs should receive predictable, formula-based transfers, complemented by clearly assigned own-source revenues. Districts and municipalities should receive their shares directly and regularly. The formula should reflect population, poverty, geographic area, infrastructure deficits, revenue effort and development needs. Every AAR, district and municipality should publish its budget, procurement, development projects and measurable outcomes. Citizens should be able to see not merely how much money was allocated, but what that money achieved. AARs should not become passive administrative offices. Every region should develop a five-year economic and human-capital strategy based on its comparative advantages. The objective is to move away from a one-size-fits-all development model.
A new administrative map alone will not transform Pakistan. If new units simply inherit the existing bureaucratic culture, little will change. Administrative restructuring must therefore go hand in hand with governance transformation. AAR administrations should be professional, merit-based, digitally enabled and performance-oriented. They should be able to draw upon economists, engineers, doctors, educationists, urban planners, technology specialists, agricultural experts and project managers.
There should also be a democratic mechanism to determine each region’s longer-term future. Where there is a serious and sustained demand for greater autonomy or a different constitutional status, the people themselves should be given a formal opportunity to express their preference. A constitutionally authorised referendum or structured public consultation could be considered once proposed regional arrangements have been properly defined. The question need not be reduced to the emotionally charged binary of province versus no province. People could be asked which arrangement they believe best serves their region: the existing structure, an empowered AAR, or a separate constitutional unit.
A referendum, of course, cannot by itself override constitutional requirements. Any change in provincial status would have to follow the constitution and parliamentary process. But public opinion should provide a powerful foundation for that political decision. This would introduce something frequently missing from the debate: the direct voice of the people whose lives are actually affected by the administrative structure.
There is an even larger question here: Pakistan’s political parties routinely invoke democracy, representation and the people’s mandate. But democracy should not end with elections to national and provincial assemblies. The real test of democratic conviction is whether political power is actually transferred to the people. Empowered regional and local governments would mean that provincial capitals surrender some discretionary authority. That may be politically uncomfortable, but that is precisely why it is a test of democratic principles. Those who genuinely believe in democracy should not fear more elections, more transparency, more local accountability and more citizen choice.
Pakistan does not have to start from zero. Existing divisions, districts, tehsils and municipalities provide an administrative foundation. A ‘National Commission on Administrative and Governance Reform’ could define the functions, boundaries, fiscal arrangements, electoral system and performance indicators for AARs. A few regions could initially be selected as pilots, allowing experience to guide national expansion. There is no reason to create dozens of expensive new bureaucracies overnight. Existing offices, personnel and infrastructure can be progressively reorganised. The objective should be administrative transformation, not administrative multiplication.
Pakistan has debated administrative restructuring for decades. Perhaps it’s time to change the question. Instead of asking: How many provinces should Pakistan have, we should ask how can every Pakistani have a government close enough to understand his problems, powerful enough to solve them and accountable enough to answer for failure? Autonomous Administrative Regions could provide one answer.
The writer is a former federal health minister. He tweets/posts @DrNadeemjan and can be reached at: [email protected]
