EVER since the interior minister called for smaller administrative units to improve governance, the question of new provinces has become the subject of much discussion. The proposal has revived a long-standing debate: does Pakistan need more provinces or greater devolution to the local level?
A recent discussion in Islamabad on the topic brought together politicians, policymakers, technocrats and civil society representatives. While some participants supported the creation of new provinces, the broader sentiment appeared to favour, and rightly so, the decentralisation of political, administrative and financial power through effective local governments.
The case for smaller provinces rests on the view that large administrative units have become unwieldy due to racing population numbers and the concentration of authority in a few urban centres. Proponents of this view argue that smaller provinces will bring governance closer to citizens and address the challenges. Yet even they recognise that any restructuring must reflect the will of the people and follow the constitutional process. This is vital to ensure that boundary changes do not become an exercise in political engineering, but emerge from genuine public demand.
However, Pakistan’s problem is less a shortage of provinces than excessive centralisation of every kind of power. Without empowered LGs and devolved resources, creating new provinces will not improve governance. The more immediate task should be to make LGs genuinely functional. After all, citizens turn most often to elected representatives over basic issues such as roads, streets, sewerage and other necessary municipal services.
These are the challenges that should be addressed at the local level. Sadly, because of the political ambitions of the ruling elite, LGs in Pakistan have intentionally been denied adequate administrative and financial powers. The outcome is a distorted structure in which provincial governments perform functions that should be handled much closer to the citizens. This results in political patronage, administrative congestion and poor service delivery.
The debate therefore rightly widened the reform agenda. Judicial and electoral reforms, intra-party democracy, the rule of law and institutional behaviour cannot be separated from the question of good governance. As some participants noted, changing boundaries without reforming the underlying political and institutional culture will only lead to the same governance failures.
New provinces may, where there is genuine public demand and a sound administrative and fiscal case, form part of a broader governance restructuring. But the first test is whether power is actually transferred to the citizens. We need governments that are closer to the people, more accountable and financially empowered. The aim should not be to redraw Pakistan’s map. It should be to redraw the relationship between the state and its citizens.
Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2026
