More provinces, please

KARACHI: With reference to the articles published in your newspaper on whether Fata or Hazara should be made provinces, I would say that if Pakistan is to survive, it has to be made economically manageable.

And the only way this can be done is to have more provinces. Switzerland, with a population of only eight million has 26 cantons and no wonder it is such an efficiently-run society. The present 27 divisions of the country should be converted into provinces, each with the quantum of autonomy as recommended under the Pakistan Resolution. Seventy percent of the revenue generated by each province/ division should be retained by itself, the balance given to the centre for disbursement to other economically backward areas and for its own expenses.

Published in the Express Tribune, May 13th, 2010.