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Senator Durrani moves bill for creation of new provinces

* Former information minister says smaller, governable units will make administration easier, lead to rapid progress in under-developed areas

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Former information minister Muhammad Ali Durrani submitted a draft bill to the Senate secretariat on Thursday, seeking to amend the Constitution to facilitate the process of creating new provinces.

The former minister said, "My bill seeks to simplify the procedure of forming new provinces, in line with the aspirations of my countrymen.”

Rapid progress: “It is imperative to form new, more manageable provinces. This will not only make administration easier, but will speed up the progress of the under-developed areas in the country," he told reporters while addressing a press conference at Parliament House.

"This bill will allow Senate to pass a resolution for the formation of a new province and will only require a simple majority. Later, the National Assembly can also pass the bill with a simple majority," Durrani said.

He said according to the current Constitution, parliament and the provincial assemblies required a two-thirds majority to form new provinces. This bill would make matters much easier, the former minister added.

"India used to have just 16 provinces, but has now created 12 new ones for better administration," he remarked.

Historic injustice: To a question, Durrani said the restoration of Bahawalpur’s provincial status would correct the historic injustice done by the late dictator General Yahya Khan, who merged the province into Punjab, defying a commitment made by the Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

He said the denial of rights to the people of Bahawalpur had taken its toll on the security and solidarity of the federation. It is time, he said, for the state to redress the miseries of the poor.

Durrani said there was a strong sense of deprivation amongst the people of under-developed areas, especially in southern Punjab. The only solution to these problems was the creation of smaller, more governable units, he added.

"This bill would initiate the process of creating smaller administrative units. In the first phase, Bahawalpur's provincial status should be restored, and that should be followed by the formation of a new province that includes the Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions,” the former minister said. He suggested forming a total of 16 new provinces.

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