Pakistan: Inter-provincial inequality

The minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal, reportedly expressed concern over the inequality in development between the provinces - an inequality which, he maintained, would be dangerous for the federation. There is no doubt that Sindh and Punjab are relatively affluent provinces, with many economists labelling them as middle income, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and tailed by the resource-rich Balochistan considered as the least developed province comparable to the least developed countries that include conflict-ridden Afghanistan. There was nothing astute about Ahsan Iqbal's conclusion with respect to inter-provincial inequality and its resulting danger to the federation. The rise of fundamentalism in KPK is considered an outcome of economic deprivation and lack of job opportunities in rural/tribal areas - conditions that account for the successful recruitment drive by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan that, in turn, has led to the escalation in vicious terror attacks throughout the country. Need one add that the origin of the Punjabi Taliban, mainly from the economically-deprived South, simply strengthen the linkage between economic deprivation and fundamentalism/terrorism. The growing rural, urban divide must therefore be summarily addressed by even the relatively affluent provinces with the objective of providing an environment not conducive to either the rise of fundamentalism or militarism and to deter migration from rural to urban areas in search of jobs that leads to greater socio-economic problems facing the already over-crowded Pakistani cities. The case of Balochistan is different as the Sardars have done little to share their enormous natural resource wealth, including gas and minerals, with the Baloch people. However, while political constraints require to be tackled, yet here too economic constraints do augment the cultural compulsion for the continuing hold of the Sardars over the hearts and minds of their people. In short, Pakistan has already reached the danger zone with respect to the federation as a direct outcome of developmental inequality between the provinces. Ahsan Iqbal also pointed out that subsequent to the 18th Constitutional Amendment the provinces have a greater share of the resources relative to the federation and the onus of development would therefore increasingly rest with the provinces. Be that as it may, the federation cannot and must not absolve itself of the responsibility of ensuring that basic physical and social infrastructure is provided to the country's backward areas for in that way alone lies its ability to effectively and permanently deal with terrorism, a national as opposed to a provincial subject, which remains the main impediment to economic growth. The 2010 landmark National Finance Commission award agreement led to a rise in weightage of poverty or backwardness to 10.3 percent raising allocations from the divisible pool to 9.09 percent for Balochistan and 14.62 percent to KPK. This is certainly not enough for the poor provinces to make a difference to their people and it needs to be supplemented by federal government injections. The Ministry of Planning, Development and Reforms can, of course, play a role in preparing province-specific development plans that would help narrow the stark gap between the provinces within a stipulated time period. For this to materialise, the Finance Ministry would need to make additional releases to ensure that this inequality is tackled and the road to end militancy, terrorism and inter-provincial disharmony in Pakistan is embarked upon.