Debate over new provinces reflects incomplete devolution, officials say

The renewed debate over the creation of new provinces and administrative units reflects the incomplete devolution of power following Pakistan's 18th Constitutional Amendment, officials familiar with the matter said.

ISLAMABAD — The renewed debate over the creation of new provinces and administrative units reflects the incomplete devolution of power following Pakistan’s 18th Constitutional Amendment, officials familiar with the matter said.

The officials said the amendment, passed in 2010, transferred substantial powers from the federal government to the provinces but did not extend the devolution of authority to the district and local-government levels.

As a result, powers shifted from Islamabad have largely remained concentrated in the four provincial capitals, limiting the ability of governments to improve service delivery across provinces with large and dispersed populations, they said.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has also highlighted the issue, saying the benefits of devolution had failed to reach the grassroots level during the past 15 years.

Iqbal has called for greater transfers of powers and financial resources to districts, arguing that the concentration of authority at the provincial level has contributed to poor performance in the social sector.

“Devolution cannot mean merely transferring powers from Islamabad to provincial capitals,” Iqbal said.

Officials said effective devolution required authority, financial resources and responsibility to be transferred further down to elected district and local-government bodies.

Pakistan’s Constitution provides for such a third tier of governance. Article 140-A requires provincial governments to establish local-government systems and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to elected local representatives.

However, elected representatives at the national and provincial levels have reservations about creating strong local governments, according to the officials.

They said empowered mayors and district governments could reduce the political and administrative influence currently exercised by parliamentarians and provincial governments over local development and public resources.

The officials said the reluctance of provincial governments to hold regular local-government elections, combined with the limited powers and resources available to elected local bodies, had further weakened the country’s third tier of governance.

The absence of empowered local governments has left provincial administrations attempting to manage a wide range of local issues from their respective capitals, they said.

The officials argued that the creation of new provinces or administrative units alone would not resolve governance and service-delivery problems unless powers and resources were also devolved to the local level.