Issue of law, law fields, the constitutional public trust Doctrine, new provinces, new administrative units & Great Pakistan

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Issue of law, law fields, the constitutional public trust Doctrine, new provinces, new administrative units & Great Pakistan.

The Constitutional Public Trust Doctrine is a foundational principle of constitutional and administrative law. This is a simple legal idea that the government does not own public money, land, or power but it only looks after them for the people. Long ago, this law was created to make sure governments couldn't sell off or ruin shared natural resources like rivers, forests, and beaches. Today, courts have expanded this rule to cover everything the state manages. This means when the government collects taxes, raises donation funds, or uses public power, it must act as a trustworthy custodian. It is legally required to use those resources strictly for the public's benefit, not for its own gain or unauthorized spending.

دہائیوں سے پاکستان کی حکومتیں مختلف خصوصی مہمات کے ذریعے عوام سے پیسہ اکٹھا کرتی آئی ہیں—خواہ وہ 1997ء کی "قرض اتارو، ملک سنوارو" اور 2018ء کا "ڈیمز فنڈ" جیسے عطیات ہوں، یا پٹرولیم ڈویلپمنٹ لیوی اور ڈیٹ سروسنگ سرچارج جیسے بجلی و ایندھن کے بلوں میں شامل اضافی ٹیکس۔ ان مہمات کا مقصد قوم کو بڑے مسائل سے نکالنا بتایا گیا، جیسے کہ قومی قرضہ اتارنا، بڑے ڈیم بنانا، آفت زدگان کی امداد کرنا یا توانائی کے بحران کو حل کرنا۔

تاہم، اس پیسے کو الگ تھلگ (Ring-fence) رکھ کر صرف انہی طے شدہ مقاصد پر خرچ کرنے کے بجائے، حکومتیں بار بار اس رقم کو بغیر کسی شفاف حساب کتاب یا واضح نتائج کے سرکاری خزانے کے عام بجٹ میں شامل کرتی رہیں۔ جیسے ہی ابتدائی جوش و خروش ٹھنڈا پڑتا، ان میں سے زیادہ تر سکیموں کو خاموشی سے بند یا فراموش کر دیا جاتا۔ چونکہ شہریوں نے شاذ و نادر ہی یہ دیکھا کہ ان کی محنت کی کمائی کہاں استعمال ہوئی، اس لیے وہ ان سرکاری اپیلوں پر اعتماد کھو بیٹھے اور اب وہ قومی فنڈ ریزنگ کو ایک حقیقی قومی کوشش کے بجائے محض حکومت کا وقتی طور پر پیسہ بٹورنے کا طریقہ سمجھتے ہیں۔

Every time a government breaks its promise to protect public money, it destroys the people's trust. Instead of viewing official appeals as honest attempts to help the country, citizens see them as quick cash grabs meant to fconstitutional guarantees, such as holding fair elections, conductingund extra perks and privileges for those in power while exploiting the public. This failure goes beyond money, the state has also failed to honor key accurate censuses, and empowering local governments. This long history proves that the state has broken a fundamental constitutional rule i.e The Constitutional Public Trust Doctrine or the government is supposed to be a trustworthy custodian of the people's rights and wealth, not their owner.

Now the government sectors are once again proposing scheme of new provinces and units. The proposal of new administrative units or provinces is generally a good strategy for improving local governance and serving citizens better. However, because the Government leaders proposing these changes are often the ones who repeatedly violated the Public Trust Doctrine in the past, the public is unlikely to accept these proposals. People believe our state fails to act as a trustworthy custodian of their rights and wealth, and they see these new administrative schemes as political maneuvers rather than genuine efforts to serve the nation.

If we see at glance, creating new provinces or administrative units directly changes how money and power are divided in Pakistan. Under the Constitution, national resources are shared through a formula called the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award. Currently, the central government puts tax money like a Dividing the National Cake into a main pool (the Divisible Pool) and shares the biggest portion among the existing four provinces based mostly on population. Adding new provinces means cutting the same national Cake into more slices. While Under Article 160 of the Constitution, a new NFC Award cannot reduce a province's financial share below what it received in the previous award. Adding a new province requires a complex political agreement to renegotiate how both the federal government and existing provinces split the national budget.

So, establishing new provinces or administrative units is an uphill battle, especially when a government political leaders faces a severe public trust deficit. Though, creating new provinces requires major political consensus, constitutional amendments, overcoming deep public skepticism, and delivering tangible structural reforms rather than mere promises. All these requirements can be met and when they are, our nation will truly move forward with slogans..

روشنی کا سفیر، امیدوں کا نشان — چمکتا رہے گا میرا عظیم اور سر بلند پاکستان! انشاءاللہ۔