THE debate over new provinces in Pakistan has been gaining renewed attention for understandable reasons. Population growth, expanding cities, administrative distances and difficulties in delivering public services have made the case for smaller and more manageable administrative units increasingly relevant. In many parts of the country, bringing government closer to the citizen is no longer simply a political demand. It is becoming an administrative necessity. But the way new provinces are governed will ultimately determine whether they become a solution or another burden on the state.

Pakistan already has a familiar provincial governance model. A province has a chief minister, a cabinet, ministers, advisers, a large secretariat, departments, senior bureaucratic offices and an extensive administrative apparatus, accompanied by official residences, vehicles, protocol and other recurring expenditures. Reproducing this entire structure every time a new province is created would mean multiplying the same machinery across a larger number of units. That would make administrative de-centralisation increasingly expensive without necessarily making government more effective.

The recent discussion on Islamabad’s governance model brought this problem into sharper focus. Institutional capacity matters as much as the distribution of authority. When functions are divided among multiple institutions, responsibilities overlap, decision making becomes slow........

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