The necessity for additional provinces to enhance governance and public service delivery was the subject of a roundtable discussion on Wednesday at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI).

Politicians, practitioners of public policy, scholars, and members of the media were present at the moot.

Former Governor Owais Ahmad Ghani of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Executive Director Shakeel Durrani of SOPREST, former Federal Secretary Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan, former Federal Minister Daniyal Aziz, former Ambassador Muhammad Hassan, and former Federal Minister Zubaida Jalal all spoke at the roundtable.

Dunya TV Managing Director Naveed Kashif, distinguished jurist Dr. Shoaib Suddle, former caretaker minister Murtaza Solangi, corporate and legal lawyer Hafiz Ahsan Ahmad, and former special representative to Afghanistan Amb. Asif Durrani also took part.

The speakers said that the country’s current administrative and governance issues needed to be addressed organically and that the establishment of additional provinces was essential for both national security and the general welfare.

According to one opinion, Punjab was bigger than 196 nations. That leads to either redrawing of boundaries or transfer of resources, if the increasing wants and necessities of a growing population are to be addressed with the current tensions.

Merging multiple districts into new provinces or converting administrative units into new provinces are two of the most sensible possibilities on the table.

It was also mentioned that the establishment of new provinces was seen negatively by the local political class, who were one of the barriers on its path.

Similarly, the regional parties view the issue through a different lens than the mainstream parties, which leaves it in limbo. A viable approach, according to the statement, is to let the parliament take the lead by forming a commission. Even better would be to form a parliamentary committee to establish new provinces following extensive consultations, involving all relevant parties, including the media and intelligentsia.

The conversation was inaugurated by IPRI President Amb Dr. Raza Muhammad and moderated by IPRI Director of Research Dr. Rashid Wali Janjua, who emphasized the political, administrative, and economic reasons for the need for new provinces.

According to the participants, converting the current administrative divisions into new provinces will greatly improve the delivery of public goods like infrastructure development, civic amenities, and law and order.

The devolution of powers to local governments will enable the empowerment of people at the local government level, which Daniyal Aziz said was a crucial component of governance.

One drawback might be the nation’s shift from federalism to a unitary government, which would require constitutional modifications and national consensus.

Former bureaucrats like Shakeel Durrani and Ishtiaq Ahmed believe that the current administrative divisions might serve as new provinces with manageable sizes for the delivery of public services in an economical and efficient manner.

The roundtable members believed that having more provinces would benefit Pakistan just as much as having 34, 38, and 81 provinces in nations like Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Turkey.

The primary cause of the issue was found to be the absence of an efficient local government module in the governance system, which had also been hampered by intervention and lacked timetables for power devolution. This resulted in a shift from high-level bureaucracy to more disarray and issues.

Similarly, the ongoing discord among the administrative entities might also be attributed to the explicit financial provisions.