A long overdue step in the right direction has been taken with the decision to reduce the size of the federal government to comply with the requirements of the 18th Amendment. According to a report in this paper, the Shehbaz Sharif administration is attempting to combine or eliminate a number of ministries as well as some functions that have already been transferred to the provinces but are still being handled at the federal level for political reasons even after the Concurrent List was abolished 14 years ago. On the Cabinet Secretariat website, there are forty divisions within 33 federal ministries. In addition, the ministries oversee a plethora of federal organizations that are holdovers from the pre-devolution era and that govern many aspects of government, including higher and medical education. Many people would be shocked to learn that Sheikh Zayed Hospital’s daily operations, as well as those of the medical institution connected to it in Lahore, are overseen by the Cabinet Division. What business does it have in a province where there is a hospital? It goes without saying that the bureaucracy has a stake in maintaining its financial benefits by impeding the devolution agenda’s implementation. It makes sense that the IMF is pressuring the government to shrink in order to curb its rapidly increasing public sector spending and close the uncontrollably large budget deficit created by the latest $7 billion bailout.
Although the 18th Amendment reinforce federalism and marked a turning point in Pakistan’s constitutional history, the devolution movement must continue. The incomplete goal of devolution is reflected in our political parties’ reluctance to provide local governments the authority to grant political, administrative, and financial authority to the people. . To provide effective public services and good governance, a fundamental change towards complete decentralisation is required, giving districts—even smaller local units—more financial independence and authority. Devolution from the federal government to the provinces began with the ratification of the 18th Amendment. To fully benefit from decentralization, the country must complete the second phase of power devolution from the provinces to the local government level. To do this, the political parties ought to come to an agreement and modify the Constitution in order to establish a permanent place for the third level of government. The provincial government has no business maintaining a school or a basic health unit, and it makes no sense for the federal government to run a hospital in Lahore.
