The Case for Better Governance

Good governance depends on one simple principle; the government must be close enough to the people to understand and serve them well. Pakistan’s four provinces were designed for a much smaller population decade ago, and the country has since outgrown this structure. Creating new provinces is a logical, practical step toward better administration and fairer development for every citizen.

Start with the scale of the problem. According to the 2023 census, Punjab alone has over 127 million people, making it larger than most countries in the world. By comparison, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has 40.8 million and Sindh has 55.7 million people, both already function as complete, independent provinces with their own assemblies and administrations. If provinces of that size are considered manageable, logic suggests that Punjab, holding more than double Sindh’s population within a single administrative structure, has simply become too large to govern efficiently as one unit and this gap will only widen; Punjab’s population is growing at 2.53% per year, meaning it could double by 2051. A problem this size does not fix itself with time, it only grows.

International examples make this logic even clearer. Indonesia, a country with a large and geographically spread population similar in scale to Pakistan’s challenges, governs itself through 38 provinces rather than a handful of oversized ones, allowing each region’s government to focus closely on local needs. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, restructured its territory from a small number of regions at independence into 36 states specifically because large regions made fair development and effective administration difficult. The United States, despite having a smaller population than Pakistan, is divided into 50 states so that no single state government becomes responsible for governing tens of millions of people at once. These examples show a consistent global pattern: as a country’s population grows, its internal administrative units are usually made smaller and more numerous, not left as large, unchanged blocks. Pakistan’s four-province structure looks increasingly out of step with this common and proven approach.

The everyday effects of oversized provinces are easy to see. A farmer in Rajanpur or Rojhan, in southern Punjab, must travel six hours to Lahore simply to complete a government form. A student in a Hazara town far from Peshawar may wait long periods for provincial decisions that directly affect their education. A family in a remote Balochistan village may live hours from the nearest properly resourced hospital, in a province that covers over 40% of Pakistan’s entire land area but has only about 43 people per square kilometre. Smaller, more localized provinces would shorten these distances and place decision-makers much closer to the people they are meant to serve.

Fair development is just as important as convenience. Regions like Multan, Bahawalpur, and Dera Ghazi Khan produce a major share of the country’s cotton, wheat, and mangoes, yet they continue to lag behind other parts of Punjab in schools, hospitals, and infrastructure. When one province stretches across such a wide and unequal territory, some areas naturally receive more attention simply because they are closer to the centre of power. A separate province would allow such regions to control their own budgets and set their own priorities, directing resources to where they are actually produced and needed.

The case for a Hazara province follows the same reasoning. The region’s geographical character, population distribution and longstanding administrative considerations have kept the question of a separate province in public discussion for many years. This is not a new or sudden demand; the issue has continued for sixteen years, with the provincial assembly passing resolutions in its favour three separate times. The persistence of the debate reflects continued interest in examining whether a more decentralized administrative structure could improve governance and service delivery in the region. A request repeated so consistently, over so many years, reflects a genuine and reasonable need rather than a passing political trend.

Some may point to the cost of creating new provinces, new assemblies, courts, and offices all require investment but this is best understood as a long-term investment rather than a burden. Just as building new schools or hospitals costs money initially but improves lives for generations, restructuring provincial boundaries will pay off through faster governance, better-targeted development, and stronger public trust over time.

Pakistan’s population has clearly outgrown its four-province system, and international experience shows a proven path forward: smaller, well-structured administrative units lead to better governance and more balanced development. Creating provinces like South Punjab and Hazara would bring government closer to the people, direct resources more fairly, and strengthen the country as a whole. This is a natural evolution, not a step toward division and it is a change Pakistan is ready to make.