{
  "id": 1420892,
  "title": "Bureaucratic reform needed before new provinces created: minister",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/17/bureaucratic-reform-needed-before-new-provinces-created-minister",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-17T04:30:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn - Pakistan",
    "slug": "dawn-pakistan",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2023276/bureaucratic-reform-needed-before-new-provinces-created-minister"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In Wah Cantt, Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik highlighted the need for comprehensive bureaucratic reforms before creating new provinces in Pakistan. He emphasized that such reforms were crucial for efficient service delivery and addressed the country's governance challenges. Mr Malik stated that \"creating new provinces or additional administrative units will not, by itself, solve governance problems.\" He stressed the importance of redefining authority, responsibility, and accountability within the state machinery to ensure prompt handling of public complaints and efficient government functioning. The minister noted that Pakistan's economy was gradually stabilizing, with improvements in several areas, and the government was pursuing further reforms to maintain this progress. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir were playing key roles in strengthening the economy and guiding Pakistan's economic transformation. Mr Malik cautioned that economic stability was an ongoing process necessitating consistent policies, long-term planning, and structural reforms. Regarding Pakistan's foreign policy, he outlined the country's diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between the US and Iran. On the Kashmir elections and political situation, he described the exchange of statements among political parties as typical of democratic politics. Responding to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari's remarks about the \"countdown\" of PML-N, he mentioned that Rana Sanaullah had already addressed the statement. The minister said the political situation would become clearer after completing all phases of the Kashmir electoral process at the end of August, and he believed the PPP would also face a political \"countdown\" subsequently. Regarding remarks attributed to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, Mr Aqeel confirmed that Naqvi remained in his position and continued to fulfill his duties, stating that the remarks had been taken out of context.",
  "summary": "TAXILA: Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik has said the creation of new provinces or administrative units alone cannot fix Pakistan’s governance problems, stressing that sweeping reforms in the bureaucracy must precede any such move. Speaking to journalists during the inauguration of a private business centre in Wah Cantt, he said administrative reform had become an…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}