The Calls for Further Division of All Provinces, Including Balochistan, Grow Louder
Islamabad: Discussions about the creation of new provinces are gaining momentum as a solution to Pakistan’s governance challenges.
Establishing new administrative units has become unavoidable due to the unrealistic structure of the existing provinces.
The governance system of the country is heading towards failure, where the state is finding it nearly impossible to fulfill its responsibility of providing citizens with basic rights, including education and healthcare.
Poor governance has become a major obstacle to Pakistan’s progress.
Under the current structure, government institutions are struggling to deliver, and ordinary citizens are deprived of education, healthcare, and justice.
Several think tanks working on governance have begun analyzing this situation.
A notable contribution is the research by Mian Amir Mehmood, Chairman of Dunya Media Group, which has been published in book form and discussed in seminars in Islamabad and Lahore, earning appreciation from civil society and policymakers.
Pakistan’s provinces, both in terms of area and population, are larger than many countries around the world.
According to the book, only 12 countries—including the U.S., China, India, Russia, Egypt, and Indonesia—have populations greater than Punjab.
Similarly, Sindh’s population is larger than that of 164 countries, with only 31 having more people.
In the case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, just 41 countries have larger populations.
Balochistan, by area, is bigger than 172 countries. Before the One Unit system was introduced in 1955, the population of Pakistan’s provinces was far smaller than it is today.
According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, the country’s population was 33.7 million in 1951, which has now exceeded 240 million.
Punjab’s population increased from 20.6 million in 1951 to nearly 128 million today.
Sindh’s grew from 6 million to over 55 million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s from 5.8 million to 40 million, and Balochistan’s from 1.1 million to nearly 15 million.
The book highlights that the demographic imbalance among the provinces has worsened.
Punjab alone now accounts for about 53% of the country’s total population—larger than the combined population of the other three provinces.
This imbalance gives Punjab the highest number of National Assembly seats, allowing it to secure a simple majority on its own.
No other country in the world has such an extreme population ratio among its federating units.
The book compares this with the U.S., where California makes up 12.18% of the total population, and with India, where Uttar Pradesh accounts for 16.49%.
In both cases, the ratio is not as disproportionate as Punjab’s compared to other provinces.
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Around the world, population shifts have often led to the creation of new administrative units, but in Pakistan, discussions about new provinces are often negatively politicized, despite being essential for development and addressing public issues.
