It’s a known fact that the administering the whole of a country as a single unit is never a good idea, and can’t be done smoothly either. Therefore, a country is divided further into various administrative units in order to make it more convenient for the administrators to conduct their operations. There are so many of the chores that a state has to perform, few of them are liabilities while few of them earns them revenue. State’s objectives in general administration are to provide safe and secure environment to the citizen to live a healthy life, and also they have to provide the basic commodities like water, power, and fuel to the citizens too.
However, there also are other state businesses that the state has to perform like collection of different kinds of taxes, including property taxes, land taxes, income tax and other forms of taxes. Collecting all of the revenue and keeping record of it as a single unit is quite difficult or you can say it is impossible for the state. That’s a reason why the states are divided into smaller units to run all these state affairs more conveniently. If you are looking for the administrative units in Pakistan, then keep reading through the lines to know more about the topic.
Province
The federal capital of Pakistan administers the federal affairs and all the related chores. Additionally, it also dispenses the federal budget and office occupants for the state affairs. Pakistan has 4 provinces, Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and KPK, and has only one indigenous state that is AJ&K.
Provinces are administered by provincial assembly, and the CM being the premier of it. This is an elected body and is elected by the residents for a term of five years.
Divisions
The provinces are then divided into various divisions. The outlook may look similar to the British model while it is a lot different in terms of officiating and dispensing provincial and federal requisitions.
A division is administered by civil services officers, and the prime officers that sit in here are,
Commissioner
Senior Superintendent of Police
And Senior Judicial Staff
Following are the divisions within 4 provinces of Pakistan.
| Punjab | Sindh | Balochistan | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Bahawalpur | Banbhore | Kalat | Bannu |
| Dera Ghazi Khan | Hyderabad | Makran | Dera Ismail Khan |
| Faisalabad | Karachi | Naseerabad | Hazara |
| Gujranwala | Sukkur | Quetta | Kohat |
| Lahore | Larkana | Sibi | Malakand |
| Multan | Mirpur Khas | Zhob | Mardan |
| Rawalpindi | Shaheed Benazirabad | Peshawar | |
| Sahiwal | |||
| Sargodha |
Districts
The divisions are then divided into several districts. The district administration stays responsible for all the administrative duties including policy implementation and overseeing development project.
A district is administered by district administration and the civil servants who stay accountable for the projects are,
Deputy Commissioner
Superintendent of Police
And District Court Jury
Following are the district within 4 provinces of Pakistan
| Punjab | Sindh | Balochistan | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa |
| Bahawalpur | Badin | Awaran | Abbottabad |
| Bahawalnagar | Dadu | Barkhan | Bajaur |
| Rahim Yar Khan | Ghotki | Chagai | Bannu |
| Dera Ghazi Khan | Hyderabad | Dera Bugti | Battagram |
| Layyah | Jacobabad | Duki | Buner |
| Muzaffargarh | Jamshoro | Gwadar | Charsadda |
| Rajanpur | Karachi Central | Harnai | Chitral |
| Faisalabad | Kashmore | Jafarabad | Dera Ismail Khan |
| Chiniot | Khairpur | Jhal Magsi | Hangu |
| Toba Tek Singh | Larkana | Kachhi | Haripur |
| Jhang | Matiari | Kalat | Karak |
| Gujranwala | Mirpur Khas | Kech | Khar |
| Gujrat | Naushahro Feroze | Kharan | Kohat |
| Hafizabad | Shaheed Benazirabad | Khuzdar | Lakki Marwat |
| Mandi Bahauddin | Qambar Shahdadkot | Killa Abdullah | Lower Dir |
| Narowal | Sanghar | Kohlu | Lower Kohistan |
| Sialkot | Shikarpur | Lasbela | Malakand |
| Lahore | Sukkur | Loralai | Mansehra |
| Kasur | Tando Allahyar | Mastung | Mardan |
| Nankana Sahib | Tando Muhammad Khan | Musakhel | Nowshera |
| Sheikhupura | Tharparkar | Naseerabad | Peshawar |
| Multan | Thatta | Nushki | Shangla |
| Lodhran | Umerkot | Panjgur | Swabi |
| Khanewal | Sujawal | Pishin | Swat |
| Vehari | Karachi East | Qilla Saifullah | Tank |
| Rawalpindi | Karachi South | Quetta | Torghar |
| Jhelum | Karachi West | Shaheed Sikandarabad | Upper Dir |
| Chakwal | Korangi | Sherani | Upper Kohistan |
| Attock | Malir | Sibi | |
| Sahiwal | Sohbatpur | ||
| Pakpattan | Washuk | ||
| Okara | Zhob | ||
| Sargodha | Ziarat | ||
| Khushab | |||
| Mianwali | |||
| Bhakkar |
Tehsil
The smallest unit in terms of DA is called tehsil in Pakistan. Formerly during and after few years of British Government it was termed as Taluqa. The Monarchs had to collect land taxes and administer this smaller chunk of lands in their particular area.
There are many tehsils across Pakistan. They are so many that we can’t name them all instead we can just write the number of how many is there in total.
| Province | # |
| Punjab | 145 |
| Sindh | 146 |
| Baluchistan | 143 |
| KPK | 83 |
A tehsil is administered by the tehsil staff and the civil servants that are responsible for the chores are,
Assistant Commissioner
Assistant Superintendent of Police
And Sessions Court Jury
Union Council
Union Council is the least administrative unit of a particular district. This was then formed by the government to lead the fund to the grass root level and even at the muhalla level the voices be heard by the administrators. However, there is a strange hide and seek that is being played by this system.
The system was first introduced by the bill called “devolution of powers” in the era of Musharaf government, while it stays dysfunctional after the year 2013 when the Punjab Assembly passed the bill.
The union council is also administered by the elected body, and the positions that they have there are,
Chairman
Vice chairman
And six general members that represent each ward
End-note
The above mentioned bodies are established by the state in order to dispense power, funds and justice to reach to the grass root level of the country. If, however, you still have any ambiguity regarding any of the matter related with the topic feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below.
