In 1947, at the time of independence, India had 17 provinces. Soon after the independece, instability and tensions gripped India as most of these 17 provinces were created by the British to serve their colonial purposes and did not reflect the will of the people. This resulted in ethnic tensions within the provinces which prompted the Indian Parliament to reorganize the country among ethnic and linguistic lines in 1956. (Source)

This resulted in the creation of autonomous states instead of provinces and union territories which came directly under the federation. Several new states and union territories have been created since 1956. As of today, there are 28 states and 7 union territories. The last such addition in the count of states came in 2000 with the creation of 3 new states.

Compare the status of Pakistan with India, what do we have? We have rather lost one big province of our country chiefly due to ethnic problems between the two big provinces vouching for more share in the center.

Today, we have four provinces and some federally (un)administered areas. The demographics of these provinces are unusual. The land allocation is absurd. Minority ethnics within a province are more than supressed. The major province (big brother) decides who goes to the power in center! (Why not the other three?)

Why can’t we divide our provinces among some realistic lines, giving each province an equal share in the center? The advantages are enormous. It’s easier to administratively handle a smaller area. More ethnicities can have representations in the NA. Job oportunities in the government sector will rise remarkably. Sense of equality among provinces. Federation will be strengthened by quashing the monopoly of a certain province. And many more…

Ideally, Sindh and Punjab should be divided in 3 further provinces each and Baluchistan and NWFP in 2. I searched on Google for this idea and to my utter surprise came a link within a forum which was discussing this issue. Have a look here:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\05\22\story_22-5-2006_pg7_35

I believe dividing the provinces will provide better opportunities for the people of all ethnic origins rather than just sticking to four, from 1947. A thorough study on demographic and geographic aspects must be done and boundaries redefined to mark out new provinces. Furthermore, no one province must be a political heaavyweight enough to dictate terms in the center. This can be a very difficult decision to make for the politicans because this will be resisted strongly by the politicians of the larger province of Punjab in terms of political share. Currently, we have Punjab as the big brother of all provinces. It’s about time to increase the number of family members each having equal share within.