Creation of Bahawalpur and South Punjab provinces

[Imad.Khan]

Bingo. They pre-existed Pakistan and constitutionally federated into the union we call Pakistan in 1947.

But does that mean we shouldn't sub-divide them. The population has increased many folds and the current administration is unable to serve them. I just have an issue with having multiple legislation bodies, they are not needed and are waste of valuable resources.

 

[AbuzarIlyas]

But does that mean we shouldn't sub-divide them. The population has increased many folds and the current administration is unable to serve them. I just have an issue with having multiple legislation bodies, they are not needed and are waste of valuable resources.

Legislative Bodies should remain there but with minimum incentives and heavier workload and their election criteria should be revised on strict lines. It is an organ of democracy. We can have an Erdogan styled referendum to change the entire governance system later.

 

[fitpOsitive]

PML-N submits bill seeking creation of Bahawalpur, South Punjab provinces in NA

January 28, 2019

Bill calls for amendments in Article 1, 51, 59, 154 and 157(1) of the 1973 Constitution. — File

The PML-N on Monday submitted in the National Assembly a constitutional amendment bill for the creation of the Bahawalpur and South Punjab provinces.

The bill was submitted to the NA secretary by MNAs Ahsan Iqbal, Rana Tanvir and Rana Sanaullah. The bill demands that Article 1 of the Constitution be amended to create the Bahawalpur and South Punjab provinces.

The Bahawalpur province will consist of the current administrative division that is considered Bahawalpur, while the current divisions of Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan will fall into the South Punjab province.

The bill also calls for changes to Article 51, which will see to the changes in allocation of seats in the National Assembly, making way for representation of the two new provinces in parliament.

According to the bill, once the amendment is done, Bahawalpur will have 15 general and three women's' seats, bringing the total count of seats to 18. The bill also calls for the allocation of 38 seats to the South Punjab province.

After the amendment, the total number of seats on the NA would rise to 326, out of which 266 will be general seats while 60 will be women-specific seats.

The amendment also calls for relevant changes to be made in Article 59 of the Constitution.

The amendment also calls for 39 seats of the Punjab provincial assembly to be allocated for Bahawalpur, out of which 31 should be general and eight should be women-only. According to the bill, 80 seats should be allocated for the South Punjab province, out of which 64 should be general seats while 14 should be women-specific and two should be allocated for minorities.

The bill also calls for an amendment in Article 154 on the Constitution, through which a National Commission for the Creation of New Provinces should be constituted to deal with the area and other such specifications of the new provinces.

The bill also says that Article 175(a) of the Constitution should be amended to create principle seats of the Supreme Court and the high court in the new provinces.

The bill pointed out that on May 9, 2012 the Punjab Assembly had already approved the creation of these provinces.

The bill also said that the people of these areas have been seeking the creation of these new provinces for a very long time and have been working towards this demand.

Speaking to the media regarding this development, PML-N leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Marriyum Aurangzeb and Ahsan Iqbal said that their party will support the government unconditionally if it sincerely plans to create the two promised provinces.

Jahan jahan bhutto ghusa hoa hai or zinda hai, wahan wahan se usy nikalna hai, marna hai.

 

[Imad.Khan]

Jahan jahan bhutto ghusa hoa hai or zinda hai, wahan wahan se usy nikalna hai, marna hai.

The reason people in Sindh still vote for Bhutto because they remember him for his work. Currently they don't see any alternate to PPP nor has any Party paid any attention to Sindh, so we can't blame them completely.

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

I want district level government sort of like Japan

 

[Clutch]

Best move is to drag this motion for 4 yrs in lieu of discussion, planning etc and get it approved in thier 5th year. This way they will get a massive boost near elections and keep the Punjab govt for most of thier tenure.

Agreed.

 

[fitpOsitive]

The reason people in Sindh still vote for Bhutto because they remember him for his work. Currently they don't see any alternate to PPP nor has any Party paid any attention to Sindh, so we can't blame them completely.

It has become their mentality that they will get jobs only if someone Sindhi is in power.

 

[jupiter2007]

The reason people in Sindh still vote for Bhutto because they remember him for his work. Currently they don't see any alternate to PPP nor has any Party paid any attention to Sindh, so we can't blame them completely.

That can bd done easily, most PPP leaders are corrupt and criminals, convict them and you can bring change.

 

[Imad.Khan]

That can bd done easily, most PPP leaders are corrupt and criminals, convict them and you can bring change.

Thats a very slow process

 

[jupiter2007]

Thats a very slow process

Judicial system is 100 years old and take ages to resolve cases. What can you expect from it?
We need to revamp the whole system to quickly resolve thousands of pending cases.

 

[Verve]

Best move is to drag this motion for 4 yrs in lieu of discussion, planning etc and get it approved in thier 5th year. This way they will get a massive boost near elections and keep the Punjab govt for most of thier tenure.

Attach removal of 18th amendment as a condition for early division of Punjab. Otherwise drag it to 5th year.

Pitch PPP against PMLN in this.

 

[ghazi52]

Dismissing any notion that the PML-N had submitted the constitutional amendment bill for the creation of two new provinces on Monday for political point-scoring, former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has ascribed the move to his party's "sincere intent" and criticised the PTI government for "sitting on the issue for five months" when they could have done the same.

Abbasi said the PML-N has no interest in "taking credit for the bill" and that the party has simply taken the first step. "It is now up to other parties to consider the bill and present their viewpoints, if they too are sincere," he added.

When asked by the host why the proposal contains the creation of two provinces — south Punjab as well as Bahawalpur — Abbasi said this was the previous demand of, and the resolution passed by, the Punjab Assembly.

"The people of Bahawalpur demand [the creation of a province] and claim that they were promised the same by the Quaid-i-Azam. If the leadership of the parliament thinks this should not be done, then it is up to them. This [bill] will pass with consensus anyway. No single political party can do anything on its own," he reasoned.

He was then asked why south Punjab has been proposed as such a small province. "It was thought that the territory would include the districts of Vehari, Muzaffargarh, and Rahim Yar Khan," anchorperson Arifa Noor said.

Abbasi responded by saying: "We had thought that the demand had come from these areas and so we drafted it that way but of course amendments can be made to include more areas."

He reiterated that his party would have no objections to any amendments. "In fact, I did not know that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has also passed a resolution for Hazara province. Hazara should also be included then."

Abbasi was then asked whether the PML-N had approached the PPP for consultations beforehand to which he replied in the negative.

"No, the PPP have their own stance. This is not just an opposition bill. This bill will be presented as a private member's bill by the PML-N. Other parties should also consider it, present their viewpoints and make whatever amendments they wish."

The host countered: "Had you created some sort of consensus first outside the parliament, it would have given the impression that you are serious. Right now it seems this has only been done for political point- scoring."

But Abbasi maintained that there was "no need" for consultation. "Every party supports this bill. PTI says they [the provinces] should be made tomorrow. They wrote it in their manifesto. They made noise over it again and again. We submitted the bill."

The former premier criticised the incumbent government for not showing the initiative on the matter.

"This bill should [at least] be presented before the committee. Then it is up to them to say they don't want either of the two provinces or want just one or six. At least the process should begin. The government has been sitting for five months. They could have presented the bill. Why didn't they?," he said.

 

[jupiter2007]

I want district level government sort of like Japan

Pakistan does not need any more provinces. In fact, best option for Pakistan to abolish all provinces and go with divisional based governments and move majority of power to district level.

Each Division will have Divisional Commissioner which will be either appointed by the government or elected by popular vote. He will be an administrative head of a division. Divisional Commissioner will be supported by divisional councils.

We don’t need MPAs, locally elected Divisional council can resolve all the problems within the Division.

district government and responsibilities:

1. Economic Development:
   • Each district will assist Federal government in Economic development and community development initiatives.
   • Every small Business must be registered with district government in a database and pay the annual registration fees (Standard fix fee).
   • District Business registration database will be part of national Business registration database.
2. Environmental Control: Solid waste disposal, support Federal government with air and water quality management
3. General Government:
   • Vehicle registration, both personal and commercial.
   • safety inspection & Emission testing of personal and commercial vehicles must be done at district approved locations.
   • Assist in Taxing, budgeting, purchasing, property management, building inspections, district facilities management, planning and zoning.
   • human resources administration, board and commission appointments
   • Assist with election.
4. Health:
   • Assist federal government with various children and family services including Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), Child adoption, Child protection services, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and poverty elimination programs.
     
   • Also assist with mental health services, health and hospitalization,
   • registration of all medical facilities including clinics and hospitals within district government. .
5. Judicial: Court records archive, title issuance, collecting and disbursing court costs (Clerk of Courts); operations of appeals, common pleas, municipal, juvenile, probate, and domestic relations court/divorce and custody cases.
6. Public Safety:
   • Each district will have it’s own police department which will report to Deputy commissioner of the district. In maters related to district police, DC will report to Commissioner of Division (or CM if you want to keep the provinces).
   • Rescue 1122 service and District security
   • disaster planning and emergency management (EMA)
   • regional law enforcement information network (CLEAR)
   • criminal and civil attorney, law enforcement, jail operations, court security, crime investigation.
7. Public Works: Water and sewer treatment plant, Construction and maintenance of the roads and bridges within district.
8. Recreation: Financing and operations of parks, historical building and monuments, Zoo, Cultural activities, Museum, etc.
   
9. Social Services: Job and Family Services, Vocational training, Senior services.

We have 132 districts in Pakistan. If every district government start working and fulfilling it's responsibly, we will see some real progress in the country but not just in poles and in newspapers.

 

[Pakhtoon yum]

Pakistan does not need any more provinces. In fact, best option for Pakistan to abolish all provinces and go with divisional based governments and move majority of power to district level.

Each Division will have Divisional Commissioner which will be either appointed by the government or elected by popular vote. He will be an administrative head of a division. Divisional Commissioner will be supported by divisional councils.

We don’t need MPAs, locally elected Divisional council can resolve all the problems within the Division.

district government and responsibilities:

1. Economic Development:
   • Each district will assist Federal government in Economic development and community development initiatives.
   • Every small Business must be registered with district government and pay the annual registration fees (Standard fix fee).
2. Environmental Control: Solid waste disposal, support Federal government with air and water quality management
3. General Government:
   • Vehicle registration, both personal and commercial.
   • safety inspection & Emission testing of personal and commercial vehicles must be done at district approved locations.
   • Assist in Taxing, budgeting, purchasing, property management, building inspections, district facilities management, planning and zoning.
   • human resources administration, board and commission appointments
   • Assist with election.
4. Health:
   • Assist federal government with various children and family services including Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP), Child adoption, Child protection services, Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and poverty elimination programs.
     
   • Also assist with mental health services, health and hospitalization,
   • registration of all medical facilities including clinics and hospitals within district government. .
5. Judicial: Court records archive, title issuance, collecting and disbursing court costs (Clerk of Courts); operations of appeals, common pleas, municipal, juvenile, probate, and domestic relations court/divorce and custody cases.
6. Public Safety:
   • Each district will have it’s own police department which will report to Deputy commissioner of the district. In maters related to district police, DC will report to Commissioner of Division (or CM if you want to keep the provinces).
   • Rescue 1122 service and District security
   • disaster planning and emergency management (EMA)
   • regional law enforcement information network (CLEAR)
   • criminal and civil attorney, law enforcement, jail operations, court security, crime investigation.
7. Public Works: Water and sewer treatment plant, Construction and maintenance of the roads and bridges within district.
8. Recreation: Financing and operations of parks, historical building and monuments, Zoo, Cultural activities, Museum, etc.
   
9. Social Services: Job and Family Services, Vocational training, Senior services.

We have 132 districts in Pakistan. If every district government start working and fulfilling it's responsibly, we will see some real progress in the country but not just in poles and in newspapers.

Yes all districts and then a general name for them would be of that of the region. Like punjab, sindh etc, those would not really matter but only for historical contexts.

 

[jupiter2007]

Yes all districts and then a general name for them would be of that of the region. Like punjab, sindh etc, those would not really matter but only for historical contexts.

Turkey has Regions and provinces and Bangladesh only has districts, we can have Region -> Division -> District.
This will work with both Parliamentary and Presidential system and resolve majority of problems if we go with digital economy and proper audit system.