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The continued misgovernance in Karachi has brought sharp focus to the need for either creating more and smaller provinces in Pakistan (perhaps converting every division into a province) or of robust and meaningful devolution of power to the local level.
Federalism is meaningless if power is transferred from Islamabad to provincial capitals without further devolution to local governments. Those who hail the 18th Amendment (as I do) should not be two-faced and then deny giving resources and authority to local governments.
Federal govt gives 57.5% of the taxes it collects to provinces based on population (82% weight), revenue collection (5%), poverty (10.3%) and inverse of population density (2.7%). At least 90% of these funds plus provincial taxes must be given to local govts on the same formula.
The problems faced by the residents in Lahore or Karachi are quite different from those faced by the residents of Rajanpur or Thar. Local authorities present in Gwadar can run their schools much better than bureaucrats sitting in Quetta. No reason to centralise power in provinces
The problem is not just limited to Karachi and Sindh. Large (and defined) sections of population in the other three provinces also feel disenfranchised and de-prioritised. Why not devolve power to the local level and let local people feel empowered to make their own decisions?
