Advocates of a strong centre resurface periodically to oppose provincial devolution. Sometimes the rationales they conjure up are downright absurd.
Since the beginning of 2026, ‘centrists’ have initiated and relentlessly harped on the mantra of an alleged/proposed/impending ‘28th Amendment’. They maintain that the 28th Amendment is in the throes of enactment and could be passed any day, and that it is designed to erode provincial fiscal sovereignty to bolster an ‘impoverished’ federal government.
The aim of securing additional funds for Islamabad (by squeezing the provinces, of course) has already been achieved, even before the 28th Amendment is drafted, tabled, or passed.
How? By creating and sustaining this narrative of an ‘impoverished’ Islamabad, the government was able to create an enabling environment that forced the provinces to accept cuts here, there and everywhere in their development budgets and federal grants.
Under our constitution, the provinces are the original governments. The federal government is a supporting government, having been created by the provinces. History bears witness that the provinces (collectively), as the constituent units of Pakistan, delegated certain responsibilities to the federal government to achieve economies of scale and efficiency: defence, foreign affairs, commerce, tax collection, strategic highways and maritime affairs on the high seas.
Most matters touching the everyday lives of people, such as education, health, law and order, agriculture, irrigation, industries and local government etc, (subjects on which the development and economy of the country depend), are administered by provincial governments.
It was decided and recorded in the constitution that the federal government shall discharge delegated provincial responsibilities under a fair, transparent, federal and parliamentary system of government. Sadly, the federal government has not only disabled any effective dispute-resolution mechanism but also retained many provincial functions to justify its entrenched, bloated bureaucracy.
Education, health, law and order, industries, agriculture, water, power etc are provincial subjects. Why do big, bloated ministries on these subjects exist in Islamabad? How much does the federal government actually need?
If Islamabad were to implement the 1973 constitution, in letter and spirit, it would restrict itself to the subjects of commerce, tax collection, Ssrategic highways, maritime affairs and defence. An annual budget of Rs5 trillion should suffice. Now it has a budget of around Rs19 trillion. Even if Rs8 trillion in debt servicing of its own making is added, it would be Rs13 trillion. The federal government’s expenditure must be capped at Rs13 trillion.
The reader will be shocked to learn that currently Islamabad spends Rs18.77 trillion every year on the running of the federal government. Our country doesn’t need the IMF programme, which offers at most Rs0.7 trillion per year. By right-sizing Islamabad’s bureaucracy, the saving of Rs6 trillion can easily alleviate poverty and unemployment and provide universal health and education to all Pakistanis. This one act of downsizing a bloated bureaucracy can bring peace to society. Unfortunately, the federal government’s annual expenditure, instead of being capped at Rs13 trillion, has actually increased to nearly Rs19 trillion.
The 7th NFC was announced in 2009, much before the 18th Amendment was enacted in 2010. The responsibilities of the provinces have increased considerably after the 18th Amendment. However, the federal government has prevented all efforts to allow a new NFC formulation.
Under the 7th NFC, the federal government had undertaken to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio to 15 per cent. Even after 17 years, this ratio still hovers around 10 to 11 per cent, proving beyond doubt the federal government’s failure in its major constitutionally mandated task of tax collection. The results are devastating: people suffer due to the imposition of indirect taxes and unconstitutional levies, and the provinces have fewer resources for all their vital tasks of education, health, law and order, agriculture, irrigation, industries, local government etc.
Pakistan is not a poor country, but it wastes a huge amount on a federal bureaucratic machinery that looks busy and essentially does nothing to add value to the quality of life of the common person.
If the constitution is to be followed faithfully, the federal government needs to abolish at least 22 divisions out of the 42 created for provincial matters. One example is the Ministry of Power. Under Article 157 of the constitution, the supply and distribution of electricity within the province, the fixing of tariffs and the imposition of consumption taxes, the laying of transmission lines, the generation of electricity and the establishment of grids are provincial functions.
Wapda was established for federal purposes and mandated to work under the Council of Common Interests. By devolving these functions and abolishing the Ministry of Power, the federal government can save the nation Rs1,200 billion annually. Similarly, by abolishing the remaining divisions and ministries that handle provincial matters, we can save billions.
The obduracy of the deeply entrenched civil bureaucratic machine (supported by at least two or three mainstream political parties) in resisting the abolition of these superfluous ministries and divisions has impoverished the country. Our strategic location, where oil and gas can be transported cheaply, as well as our own reserves of oil and gas, important seaports and mineral resources, can make us a wealthy nation.
At present, the federal government can neither collect taxes efficiently (with a shortfall of Rs1,000 billion in FBR revenue this year) nor manage its state-owned enterprises, which incur losses of around Rs836 billion annually. Islamabad has even failed to phase out Independent Power Producer (IPP) payments in the power sector. As a result, high electricity rates have crippled not only agriculture and industry but also overburdened ordinary families.
As a cover-up for its inefficiency and corruption, the federal government increased petrol prices to collect the petroleum levy. The people of Pakistan cannot afford a federal government that costs the national exchequer Rs19 trillion when it could easily manage on Rs13 trillion (including Rs8 trillion in debt servicing).
For Islamabad to retain ministries dealing with provincial and CCI matters is a constant burden on the people. If the constitutional mandate is followed, the country would not need Rs0.7 trillion from the IMF. It would have its own resources to boost development and alleviate poverty and unemployment within a short period of time.
The federal government is punishing citizens with regressive indirect taxation instead of reducing its expenses, phasing out IPP payments and arresting the losses incurred by its SOEs.
Under Articles 37 and 38 of the constitution, Pakistan must endeavour to become a welfare state ensuring food, clothing and housing, employment and social security for all citizens. The constitution was abrogated and defaced by two martial laws. Subsequently, the social contract between the state and citizens was reshaped under the 18th Amendment, promising a lean, efficient federal government to provide the people with all the rights and necessities they had been deprived of on July 5, 1977.
Had we been faithful to our constitution, the fruits of the 18th Amendment would have been delivered. The very same lobby that failed to hold local bodies polls is out to engage in sheer propaganda against the 18th Amendment. Their interest lies not in strengthening local bodies. Rather, they wish to weaken the provinces. They support rule by the federal bureaucracy rather than rule through elected representatives, as enshrined in our constitution.
