Last week, Prime Minister Gilani raised the issue of a Saraiki province on his trip to southern Punjab where the demand for a new province has been gathering steam lately. Rather than looking at the larger issue of rationalising the federating units in public interest and starting a discussion with the opposition parties without whose support such an initiative would remain a political slogan, the Prime Minister and his PPP seem to be more interested in angling for political mileage. Yet again, an important national objective seems poised to be reduced to another subject for political bickering, thanks to the short-sightedness of the ruling party and its single-minded pursuit of what it considers its party interests. Political observers have pointed out that the PPP's move is aimed at killing a flock of birds with one partisan stone. By championing the cause of a Saraiki province, the ruling party expects to gain the support of people in the Saraiki belt, who feel marginalised in a province ruled from the far-off capital of Lahore. The PPP also expects to gain by emerging as a majority party in the new province, given the existing party position in the districts of southern Punjab. This way the political hold of the PML-N, its arch rival, would be reduced to the central and northern districts of Punjab. The PPP strategy might be considered clever by the proponents of power politics, but it has serious ramifications for the future of Pakistan. There can be no two opinions about the need for rationalising the federating units; the existing four provinces are bigger than many countries in the world and do not make any administrative sense. The much-touted devolution under the Eighteenth Amendment is unlikely to solve the problems of a large number of people living far away from the provincial capitals. There is also the problem of budgetary allocations for development being hogged by the provincial capitals and other districts favoured by elites that dominate provincial governments. One does not have to be a political visionary to understand the importance of replacing the outdated provinces with new units of federation that are more suitable to the present time and result in effective decentralisation. Therefore, not surprisingly, there is broad-based political support for creating new provinces. The ongoing debate has more to do with the basis of forming these new provinces and their number. The main opposition party, the PML-N, is reported to have approved the creation of new provinces on administrative basis and says it will oppose the creation of provinces on ethno-linguistic lines, something that the ruling PPP appears to be supporting. This is a step in the right direction. But considering that the party has been saying that for some time now, it is a very small step. While it must be given credit for putting its weight behind the right side of the debate, the party's lack of ideas and initiative to push the debate further in that direction is a serious shortcoming. To prove its sincerity, the party needs to start putting on the table concrete ideas about administrative viability and present its blueprint for how it proposes to redefine the federating units to meet the administrative criteria defined by it: Unveiling a map of the new federation envisaged. It is imperative for PML-N and other political parties that claim to be working for change to present a modern vision for redefining the federating units and to give it a concrete form. In the absence of this alternative proposal, the forces of status quo led by the PPP and ethnic elites would continue to play upon the emotions of marginalised sections within the current provincial structure and articulate their deprivation in ethno-linguistic terms. It is obvious that such retrogressive political discourse does little for the deprived people and is just another tool to retain the hold of entrenched elites over them. Has it helped the oppressed and exploited Sindhis to have a province called Sindh? How do the underdeveloped areas of Baloch people benefit from being part of a province called Balochistan? Though the problem between the Centre and the provinces is real, much of the exploitation is made possible with the collusion and collaboration of provincial elites. The real problem is excessive centralisation, and the discussion for the creation of new provinces would be useful only if it starts from that premise. Carving out new provinces on ethno-linguistic lines in southern Punjab and Hazara is unlikely to solve the problems of the people and such new provinces are more likely to create and accentuate existing ethno-linguistic tensions and divisions. After all, the populations are not homogenous in these proposed provinces. There are large numbers of Urdu-speaking and Punjabi settlers in the Saraiki belt and similarly a sizeable Pakhtun population resides in the Hazara division. By bringing the government closer to the people, decentralisation not only makes it more convenient for them to access it, but also makes accountability more effective. This was clearly visible in the district governments introduced by Musharraf. Despite its shortcomings, the system worked much better than provinces and was somewhat compromised when provincial governments were placed on top of it. The solution lies in doing away with the provinces as we know them today and replacing them with a much larger number of federating units, not as many as the districts but closer to the number of existing divisions. This is not a new idea and it has been floated a number of times before. With minor adjustments, it should still provide a logical starting point for rationalising the federating units. Once such a blueprint for a new federal structure is presented to the public, it is bound to receive popular approval and support. After all, the problems flowing from excessive centralisation and huge provinces are shared by remote districts and people residing in them whether they identify with an ethno-linguistic identity or not. If the ruling party is too obsessed with petty politics to see that, the opposition should seize the initiative and start a national debate by presenting such a blueprint for the future of our federation. The writer is a freelance columnist. Email: hazirjalees@hotmail.com