ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) Chairman Mian Amer Mahmood on Tuesday said that creating smaller provinces is the only viable solution to the country’s problems.
Addressing the Devolution Summit in Islamabad, he said that laws for local government had been enacted in the Punjab Assembly, adding that 182 countries in the world were smaller than Punjab.
He said the state was unable to provide proper nutrition to its children, noting that 44 percent of children were suffering from malnutrition, while 25 million children were out of school.
“Punjab has a population of around 130 million, and there are 55 countries in the world that are smaller than Sindh,” he said.
Mian Amer Mahmood added that he had visited universities many times but was appearing before lawmakers for the first time, stressing that it was the Constitution that made them rulers.
He said that Article 140-A was a well-known constitutional provision, adding that the Punjab Assembly had legislated on this article six times since 2001.
Mian Amer Mahmood calls for 33 provinces and academic vision for Pakistan's future
He criticised the centralised system, saying that attempts were being made to run 60,000 schools while sitting in Lahore, and claimed that legislation passed in 2019 was aimed at dismantling a functioning system.
He further said that Pakistan ranked 109th out of 127 countries on the Global Hunger Index, 44 percent of children suffered from stunted growth, and the country ranked first in the world in terms of out-of-school children, with 25 million affected.
The PBA chairman reiterated that there was no solution other than the creation of smaller provinces, pointing out that India had nine provinces at the time of independence, which had now increased to 39.