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The electoral promise of the PTI to create a South Punjab province remains unfulfilled as yet. The ruling party claims it remains committed but lacks the two-thirds majority to amend the constitution and pass the bill.
The government has been unable to form the province of South Punjab in the past three years. The Senate recently discussed the creation of a new province after a bill was introduced. Foreign Minister Shah Qureshi said there was progress towards the establishment of South Punjab province but it was necessary for the opposition to join hands and reach a consensus.
The creation of the South Punjab Secretariat is being heralded as a major step towards the formation of the new province. The secretariat, formed to serve DG Khan, Bahawalpur and Multan Divisions, is now fully functional. It has posts of an additional chief secretary, additional inspector general of police and secretaries of provincial departments.
PM Imran Khan has assured a separate budget for South Punjab and employment opportunities. He says the region has suffered injustices and it was necessary to mitigate the differences. The proposed South Punjab province forms about 52 percent of the total area and 32 percent population of Punjab. Yet the region has some of the lowest development and highest poverty and illiteracy rates.
The PTI had promised to create the new province within 100 days of coming to power. It wields considerable popularity and won 30 out of 50 seats in National Assembly in the region. The PPP and PML-N have also supported the creation of South Punjab province but administrative issues have prevented it from reaching a conclusion.
Successive governments have used the issue to woo voters without doing anything substantial on the ground. Perhaps the ruling party is wary of facing the wrath of the people of Punjab for dividing the province. It could also reopen a pandora’s box by dividing other provinces on linguistic, ethnic or nationalistic lines.
The creation of a new administrative unit in South Punjab will resolve several issues and create new opportunities. It is imperative that the matter should be not used for political gimmicky but rather efforts should be made to improve development in the region.
