Ahsan Iqbal Calls for 15 New Provinces or 160 Empowered District Governments
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has called for a fundamental restructuring of Pakistan’s governance system, arguing that the country should either create 15 additional provinces or establish around 160 fully empowered district governments to improve public services and reverse deteriorating social indicators.
Speaking at a consultative session with media representatives on proposed governance reforms for the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Iqbal said Pakistan’s existing two-tier structure — centred on the federal and provincial governments — had failed to deliver effective governance.
Iqbal, who is also secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), argued that Pakistan cannot run an effective democratic system without a fully functional third tier of government.
His comments represent a major intervention in the growing national debate over whether Pakistan should create additional provinces, strengthen local governments or pursue a combination of both.
15 More Provinces or 160 District Governments
Iqbal’s central argument was that Pakistan’s current administrative structure has become too centralised for a population of roughly 260 million.
He said the country has only about 1,170 public offices serving that population and argued that between 150,000 and 200,000 public offices would need to be created through an expanded local-government system to bring government closer to citizens.
“If politicians will not do anything, the events will take over,” Iqbal warned, according to the English-language report of his remarks.
He argued that if Pakistan is unwilling to create additional provinces, it would have little alternative but to establish around 160 effective district governments with meaningful authority.
Iqbal pointed to India, which has 28 states, and Afghanistan, which has 34 provinces, as examples of countries operating with a larger number of first-tier administrative units.
The comparison represents Iqbal’s argument for greater administrative decentralisation; it does not by itself establish that either model would necessarily produce better outcomes in Pakistan.
Proposal Is Not Government Policy Yet
The most important distinction is that Pakistan has not approved the creation of 15 new provinces.
Iqbal was advocating governance restructuring during a policy consultation. His remarks do not constitute a cabinet decision, constitutional amendment or formal government plan to divide the country into 15 additional provinces.
The same applies to the proposed 160 district governments: Iqbal presented the figure as an alternative model for meaningful decentralisation rather than announcing the immediate establishment of 160 new elected administrations.
Creating new provinces would require a substantial constitutional and political process, particularly where existing provincial boundaries are affected.
The debate should therefore be reported as a reform proposal by a senior federal minister, not as an approved restructuring of Pakistan.
Iqbal Says Local Governments Remain Weak
Iqbal linked the governance problem to what happened after the 18th Constitutional Amendment.
He said the federal government devolved 17 subjects to the provinces in 2010, but argued that provincial governments subsequently failed to transfer comparable responsibilities to local governments.
According to Iqbal, this has left Pakistan with an incomplete decentralisation model: substantial authority moved from Islamabad to provincial capitals, but not sufficiently onward to districts, municipalities and other local institutions.
He said Article 140-A of the Constitution recognises local government but argued that its provisions require greater clarity to guarantee meaningful administrative, financial and political empowerment.
Article 140-A provides the constitutional basis for provinces to establish local government systems and devolve political, administrative and financial responsibility to elected local representatives.
Iqbal’s assertion that the provision is insufficiently detailed is his policy assessment rather than a judicial finding.
Social Indicators Cited as Evidence for Reform
Iqbal also linked his proposal to Pakistan’s performance on social development.
He said social indicators had deteriorated despite additional resources being transferred to provinces through the National Finance Commission, arguing that fiscal decentralisation alone had not brought government sufficiently close to citizens.
His argument is that a more decentralised system could make authorities responsible for education, health, sanitation and other essential services more directly accountable to local populations.
However, the minister did not present the 15-province or 160-district models as fully developed legislative plans with detailed boundaries, fiscal formulas or implementation schedules.
Those details would be critical to assessing the practical impact of either proposal.
Islamabad Governance Reform Plan Also Unveiled
Iqbal’s broader remarks came during discussion of a more immediate proposal to restructure governance in Islamabad Capital Territory, which has an estimated population of 2.6 million.
He said Islamabad’s existing administrative system was based on a presidential order and argued that residents lacked sufficient representation in decisions concerning the capital.
A government committee has proposed establishing an Islamabad Capital Territory Government (ICTG) and an elected Islamabad Capital Territory Assembly (ICTA).
The proposed assembly would have 27 members — 21 directly elected representatives, five women on reserved seats and one minority representative.
The assembly would elect a leader who could be designated either chief minister or mayor, with that person serving as chief executive of the proposed ICT government.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif would ultimately decide between the proposed chief minister and mayor models, according to Iqbal.
Law and Order Could Stay With Federal Government
The proposed Islamabad model would not transfer every federal responsibility to the new territorial government.
Under the draft, law and order and master planning would remain under federal control. Most other functions currently performed by the Capital Development Authority would be transferred to the ICT government, except master planning.
The proposed territorial administration could have 27 departments and at least seven special authorities, while a chief secretary and four secretaries would oversee groups of departments.
The reforms would require new legislation tentatively titled the Islamabad Capital Territory Government Act 2026, along with necessary constitutional and legislative changes.
PIMS Fire Added Urgency to Islamabad Reforms
Iqbal linked the urgency of reforming Islamabad’s fragmented administrative system to the recent PIMS hospital fire, which killed 14 newborn babies.
He described the tragedy as a wake-up call and pointed to overlapping responsibilities among the Capital Development Authority, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad and federal ministries as evidence of structural weaknesses.
The PIMS tragedy may have accelerated discussion over Islamabad’s governance arrangements, but it does not itself establish that the administrative structure caused the fire. Any findings about responsibility for the deaths should remain tied to the separate official investigation.
Islamabad Plan Still Awaits Approval
Like Iqbal’s broader decentralisation proposal, the Islamabad restructuring plan is not yet final.
The proposed model remains at the draft stage and requires approval from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, followed by the necessary legislative and constitutional steps.
The committee behind the proposal was chaired by Iqbal and included Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Rana Sanaullah and Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik.
Iqbal said restructuring would largely involve reorganising existing institutions rather than requiring substantial new financial arrangements, although an elected ICT Assembly would create an additional institutional structure.
New Provinces Would Require Constitutional Process
Iqbal’s remarks about 15 new provinces are politically significant, but they should not be confused with a constitutional decision.
Any change affecting the boundaries of an existing province would require the process prescribed by Pakistan’s Constitution, including a constitutional amendment and the constitutionally required approval of the affected provincial assembly.
There is currently no approved map identifying 15 proposed provinces, no announced boundaries, no implementation timetable and no enacted legislation creating them in the material reviewed.
Iqbal’s proposal is therefore best understood as a call for a national choice between two models of deeper decentralisation: more provinces or substantially empowered district governments.
His underlying argument is that Pakistan’s existing federal-provincial structure leaves too much authority concentrated at the top and that a stronger third tier is necessary to improve service delivery.
Whether that produces 15 additional provinces, 160 district governments or another model will depend on future political negotiations, constitutional requirements and decisions by federal and provincial legislatures.
