Ansar Abbasi

ISLAMABAD … Behind-the-scenes discussions with the concerned authorities have revealed that the ongoing debate on the creation of new provinces and administrative units is actually a result of the incomplete devolution of powers under the 18th Constitutional Amendment. It has been argued that merely managing large populations from provincial capitals cannot improve governance and public service provision. According to officials familiar with these matters, substantial powers were transferred from the federation to the provinces through the 18th Amendment, however, the process of transfer of powers did not reach the level of district and local governments. He said that in practice the powers transferred from the federation were largely concentrated at the provincial level, instead of transferring them to the elected local governments along with these financial and administrative powers and this was a necessary step to exercise these powers. Officials argue that as a result of this situation, decision-making has become centralized in the four provincial capitals, which has made it difficult to ensure effective governance and efficient delivery of public services in provinces with vast areas and ever-growing populations. He argued that if political, administrative and financial powers were fully devolved to the grassroots level, many of the problems of governance, which are now being presented as arguments in favor of restructuring the existing provincial structure, could have been resolved without the creation of additional provinces. This issue has also been pointed out by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who recently said that the benefits of devolution during the last 15 years have not reached the grassroots level. He had emphasized the need to transfer more powers and resources to the districts after the 18th Amendment. In an earlier explanation of his statement on new provinces, Ahsan Iqbal had said that non-devolution of powers and resources to the grassroots level after the 18th Amendment, and concentration of powers at the provincial level, was one of the major reasons for the poor performance of the social sector. Behind-the-scenes discussions explained the matter as devolution cannot simply mean transferring powers from Islamabad to provincial capitals. He said that in order to get better results from the system, authority, financial resources and responsibility must be transferred to the level of district and local governments. He pointed out that the Constitution envisages such a third level of self-governance. Article 140-A obliges the provinces to establish a system of local governments and to transfer political, administrative and financial responsibility and authority to elected local government representatives. However, according to sources, provincial governments have been reluctant to transfer significant administrative and financial powers to local governments. He said that as a result the process of transfer of powers practically stopped at the provincial capitals. There is also a political aspect to this issue. According to the background assessment, elected representatives at both the national and provincial levels have concerns about the strong level of devolved local governments, as devolved mayors and district governments can affect the existing political and administrative influence of parliamentarians and provincial governments over local development and public resources. Officials said the failure of provincial governments to hold regular and meaningful local government elections, and the subsequent limited powers and resources available to elected local bodies, further weakened the third tier of governance. He was of the opinion that as a result of the absence of empowered local governments, the provincial administrations are trying to run numerous matters of local nature from their respective capitals.