Divisions of Pakistan

Divisions are the third tier of government in Pakistan, between the provinces and districts. They were abolished in 2000 by the government of former president Pervez Musharraf to make way for local governance via district governments. As of August 2008, divisions in some provinces have been restored with Punjab taking the lead and restoring its eight divisions.^[1]

The four provinces of Pakistan are subdivided into administrative "divisions", which are further subdivided into districts and tehsils. The divisions do not include the Islamabad Capital Territory or the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which are counted at the same level as provinces.

History

Administrative divisions had formed an integral tier of government from colonial times. The Governor's provinces of British India were subdivided into divisions, which were themselves subdivided into districts. At independence in 1947, the new nation of Pakistan comprised two wings - eastern and western, separated by India. Three of the provinces of Pakistan were subdivided into ten administrative divisions. The single province in the eastern wing, East Bengal, had four divisions - Chittagong, Dacca, Khulna and Rajshahi. The province of West Punjab had four divisions - Lahore, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sargodha. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had two divisions - Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar. Most of the divisions were named after the divisional capitals, with some exceptions.

From 1955 to 1970, the One Unit policy meant that there were only two provinces - East and West Pakistan. East Pakistan had the same divisions as East Bengal had previously, but West Pakistan gradually gained seven new divisions to add to the original six. The Baluchistan States Union became Kalat Division, while the former Baluchistan Chief Commissioner's Province became Quetta Division. Most of the former Sind Province became Hyderabad Division, with some parts joining the princely state of Khairpur to form Khairpur Division. The former princely state of Bahawalpur became the Bahawalpur Division. The Federal Capital Territory was absorbed into West Pakistan in 1961 and merged with the princely state of Las Bela to form the Karachi-Bela Division. In 1969, the princely states of Chitral, Dir and Swat were incorporated into West Pakistan as the division of Malakand with Saidu as the divisional headquarters.

New Provinces

When West Pakistan was dissolved, the divisions were regrouped into four new provinces. Gradually over the late 1970s, new divisions were formed; Hazara and Kohat divisions were split from Peshawar Division; Gujranwala Division was formed from parts of Lahore and Rawalpindi divisions; Dera Ghazi Khan Division was split from Multan Division; Faisalabad Division was split from Sargodha Division; Sibi Division was formed from parts of Kalat and Quetta divisions; Lasbela District was transferred from Karachi Division to Kalat Division; Makran Division split from Kalat Division. The name of Khairpur Division was changed to Sukkur Division.

During the military rule of General Zia-ul-Haq, the Advisory Council of Islamic Ideology (headed by Justice Tanzilur Rahman) was tasked with finding ways to Islamicise the country. One of its recommendations was that the existing four provinces should be dissolved and the twenty administrative divisions should become new provinces in a federal structure with greater devolution of power, but this proposal was never implemented.

In the early 1990s, Naseerabad division was split from Sibi Division; Zhob Division was split from Quetta Division; Bannu Division was split from Dera Ismail Khan Division; Mardan Division was split from Peshawar Division; Larkana Division was split from Sukkur Division; Mirpur Khas Division was split from Hyderabad Division. The capital of Kalat Division was moved from Kalat to Khuzdar. 64Gul

Abolition

In August 2000, local government reforms abolished the "Division" as an administrative tier and introduced a system of local government councils, with the first elections held in 2001. Following that there was radical restructuring of the local government system to implement "the principle of subsidiarity, whereby all functions that can be effectively performed at the local level are transferred to that level". This meant devolution of many functions to districts and tehsils, which were handled at the provincial and divisional levels. At abolition, there were twenty-six divisions in Pakistan proper - five in Sindh, six in Balochistan, seven in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and eight in Punjab. Abolition did not affect the two divisions of Azad Kashmir, which form the second tier of government.

Restoration

In 2008, after the public elections and a new govt. coming in, the new democratic government decided to restore the divisions of all provinces.^[2]

Currently Punjab has nine divisions (and a total of 36 districts) with Sahiwal Division being the newest.^[3]

In Sindh after the lapse of the Local Governments Bodies term in 2010 the Divisional Commissioners system was to be restored.^{[4][5] [6]}

In July 2011, following excessive violence in the city of Karachi and after the political split between the ruling PPP and the majority party in Sindh, the MQM and after the resignation of the MQM Governor of Sindh, PPP and the Govt. of Sindh decided to restore the commissionerate system in the province. As a consequence, the five divisions of Sindh have been restored namely, Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Larkana with their respective districts.^[7]

Karachi district has been de-merged into its 5 original constituent districts namely Karachi East, Karachi West, Karachi Central, Karachi South and Malir. These five districts form the Karachi Division now.^[8]

The Divisions

Pakistan

The following tables show the current Divisions by province.

Divisions of Balochistan Province
Division	Area (km²)	Capital
Kalat	140,612	Khuzdar
Makran	52,067	Turbat
Naseerabad	16,946	Naseerabad
Quetta	64,310	Quetta
Sibi	27,055	Sibi
Zhob	46,200	Loralai

Divisions of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province
Division	Area (km²)	Capital
Bannu	4,391	Bannu
Dera Ismail Khan	9,005	Dera Ismail Khan
Hazara	17,194	Abbottabad
Kohat	7,012	Kohat
Malakand	29,872	Saidu Sharif
Mardan	3,046	Mardan
Peshawar	4,001	Peshawar

Divisions of Punjab Province
Division	Area (km²)	Capital
Bahawalpur	45,588	Bahawalpur
Dera Ghazi Khan	38,778	Dera Ghazi Khan
Faisalabad	17,917	Faisalabad
Gujranwala	17,206	Gujranwala
Lahore	16,104	Lahore
Multan	21,137	Multan
Rawalpindi	22,255	Rawalpindi
Sargodha	26,360	Sargodha
Sahiwal		Sahiwal

Divisions of Sindh Province
Division	Area (km²)	Capital
Hyderabad	48,670	Hyderabad
Karachi	3,528	Karachi
Larkana	15,543	Larkana
Mirpur Khas	38,421	Mirpur Khas
Sukkur	34,752	Sukkur

Eastern Pakistan

This table shows the divisions of East Pakistan as they stood at the time of Bangladeshi independence in 1971. See also: Divisions of Bangladesh.

Divisions of East Bengal/East Pakistan
Division	Area (km²)	Capital
Chittagong	45,414	Chittagong
Dacca	30,772	Dacca
Khulna	33,575	Khulna
Rajshahi	34,235	Rajshahi

Population

Division	Pop-1998	Pop-1981	Area(km.²)	Capital
Azad Kashmir	2800000	1980000	11639	Muzaffarabad
Bahawalpur	7635591	4668636	45588	Bahawalpur
Bannu	1165692	710786	4391	Bannu
Dera Ghazi Khan	6503590	3746837	38778	Dera Ghazi Khan
Dera Ismail Khan	1091211	635494	9005	Dera Ismail Khan
Faisalabad	9885685	6667425	17917	Faisalabad
F.A.T.A.	3176331	2198547	27220	Islamabad
Gujranwala	11431058	7522352	17206	Gujranwala
Hazara	3505581	2701257	17194	Abbottabad
Hyderabad	6829537	4678290	48670	Hyderabad
Islamabad	805235	204364	906	Islamabad
Kalat	1457722	1044174	140612	Khuzdar
Karachi	9856318	5437984	3528	Karachi
Kohat	1307969	758772	7012	Kohat
Lahore	14248641	8670358	16104	Lahore
Larkana	4233076	2746201	15543	Larkana
Makran	832753	652602	52067	Turbat
Malakand	4262700	2466767	29872	Saidu
Mardan	2486904	1506500	3046	Mardan
Mirpur Khas	3936349	2419745	38421	Mirpur Khas
Multan	11577431	7533710	21137	Multan
Nasirabad	1076708	699669	16946	Nasirabad
Northern Areas	910000	562000	72520	Gilgit
Peshawar	3923588	2281752	4001	Peshawar
Quetta	1699957	880618	64310	Quetta
Rawalpindi	6659528	4552495	22255	Rawalpindi
Sargodha	5679766	3930628	26360	Sargodha
Sibi	494894	305768	27055	Sibi
Sukkur	5584613	3746446	34752	Sukkur
Zhob	1003851	749545	46200	Loralai

^[9]

See also

• Administrative units of Pakistan
• Former administrative units of Pakistan
• Local government in Pakistan
• Division (country subdivision)
• Divisions of Bangladesh

References

1. ^ "Office of Div Commissioner restored". http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/25-Aug-2008/Office-of-Div-Commissioner-restored. 
2. ^ "Commissionerate system restored". http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/26-Oct-2008/Commissionerate-system-restored. 
3. ^ "Punjab Government Plans to Carve a New District from Lahore". http://www.opfblog.com/6245/punjab-government-plans-to-carve-a-new-district-from-lahore/. 
4. ^ "Commissioner system to be restored soon: Sindh CM". http://www.emoiz.com/commissioner-system-to-be-restored-soon-sindh-cm. 
5. ^ "Commissioner system to be restored soon: Durrani". http://www.geo.tv/5-26-2009/42856.htm. 
6. ^ "Sindh: Commissioner system may be revived today". http://eproperty.pk/news/2009/07/31/sindh-commissioner-system-may-be-revived-today. 
7. ^ "Commissioners, DCs posted in Sindh". http://nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/12-Jul-2011/Commissioners-DCs-posted-in-Sindh. 
8. ^ "Sindh back to 5 divisions after 11 years". http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2011/07/sindh-back-to-5-divisions-after-11-years/. 
9. ^ http://www.statoids.com/ypk.html

External links

• Decentralisation Programme
• National Reconstruction Bureau
• Devolution Trust of Pakistan