In my previous column, Economic Administrative Regions: A Blueprint for Pakistan’s Future, I argued that Pakistan’s governance challenges cannot be solved simply by changing governments. They require changing the structure of governance itself. A country of over 240 million people needs administrative units designed around economic efficiency rather than historical boundaries. These Economic Administrative Regions would form Pakistan’s provincial tier of government, bringing decision-making closer to the people, improving service delivery, and promoting balanced regional development.

But once the discussion moves from whether Pakistan should create more administrative regions to how they should function, one question inevitably dominates the debate.

How will the money be distributed?

This has become the greatest obstacle to administrative reform. Whether the proposal is for South Punjab, Bahawalpur, Hazara or a wider network of regions, political parties at once begin calculating how the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award will be affected. The discussion quickly shifts from better governance to financial shares.

Until that question is answered, structural reform will remain politically difficult.

Pakistan does not need to choose between fairness and performance. It can achieve both.

Pakistan does not need to choose between fairness and performance. It can achieve both.

That is why the next debate must move beyond drawing new boundaries and focus on designing a fiscal framework that is fair, transparent and performance-driven.

The current NFC Award was created to promote fairness. Population rightly carries significant weight because larger populations need greater public expenditure. Poverty is also an important consideration because every federation has a responsibility to ensure........

© Daily Times