Naqvi Says Public Must Decide Pakistan’s New Administrative Units

LAHORE: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has renewed his call for a major review of Pakistan’s administrative structure, saying any move to establish new provinces or administrative units should ultimately depend on public consent and be pursued through constitutional and political processes. Speaking at the National Policy Dialogue in Lahore, Naqvi presented administrative restructuring as part of a broader effort to improve governance and public-service delivery.

Naqvi said his earlier call for a “reset” of the system was not aimed at dismantling Pakistan’s political order or targeting any particular government or political party. He argued instead that institutions and administrative arrangements should be reassessed when they fail to produce satisfactory results, with reforms focused on correcting weaknesses that have accumulated over decades.

The interior minister linked the debate to persistent shortcomings in education, access to clean drinking water, healthcare, employment opportunities and the justice system. He cited millions of children remaining outside school and a large backlog of court cases as examples of problems that, in his view, demonstrate the need to bring government authority and decision-making closer to citizens.

Naqvi also reiterated his support for considering Islamabad as a separate province, arguing that the federal capital requires a stronger fiscal and administrative framework. He referred to Islamabad’s position outside the provincial structure and raised questions about how resources are distributed through the National Finance Commission system. Any such proposal, however, would require wider political agreement before it could advance.

The minister stressed that new administrative boundaries should not be drawn around ethnicity, language or caste. He argued that restructuring should be judged on whether it improves governance and transfers authority to lower levels rather than on identity-based considerations. He also said no map or predetermined formula should be imposed before parliament, political parties, experts and the public have debated the consequences.

The issue has rapidly become one of Pakistan’s most prominent political debates. Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has separately proposed a national discussion on creating roughly 12 to 15 provinces and has suggested establishing a committee to examine administrative reforms. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has also advocated deeper devolution, arguing that powers concentrated in provincial capitals should move closer to local communities.

The Pakistan Peoples Party has strongly resisted proposals that could result in the territorial division of Sindh. PPP representatives have criticised federal ministers’ statements on the issue, while the Sindh Assembly has passed a resolution opposing attempts to divide the province or alter its boundaries. Sindh government figures have maintained that stronger districts and local governments could improve administration without redrawing provincial borders.

The debate carries major implications for Pakistan because creating new provinces could affect political representation, fiscal transfers, administrative institutions and control over resources. For now, no final federal plan has been formally adopted. The expected next stage is continued political consultation over whether governance problems should be addressed through new provinces, stronger local governments, expanded administrative units or a combination of these approaches.