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Pakistan is a federal republic with three tiers of government: federal, provincial, and local. At the provincial level, Pakistan comprises four main provinces (Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan), the Islamabad Capital Territory, and the two semi-autonomous regions of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan. In 2010, the 18th constitutional amendment devolved powers to provinces, transferring to them key responsibilities like health, education, agriculture and law enforcement. Since this amendment, the four provinces enjoy extensive autonomy and authority. However, while the constitution mandates the provinces to create local governments and devolve political, administrative and financial powers to them, it lacks detailed provisions, leaving it to the provinces to interpret the article as they see fit. The provinces have since enacted local government laws, but no further meaningful devolution to local governments has yet occurred. Local governments thus lack authority as powers have not been transferred to them. Furthermore, local governments were dissolved in Punjab and completed their terms in Islamabad, elections have not been held since there since 2022. Throughout the country, the provision of localized public services is largely performed by deconcentrated arms of the provincial governments, most prominently the district and tehsil administration.
Subnational governance structure
The subnational governance structure of Pakistan comprises provinces, the division/district/tehsil administration, and local governments. A division is an administrative unit positioned above a district but below a province. In total, Pakistan comprises 39 divisions, 165 districts, and 553 tehsils. Administrative units at the division, district and tehsil levels are headed by civil servants appointed by their respective provincial government. Local governments function both alongside and below the district and tehsil administrations. Although Local Government Acts differ from one province to another, their structure is similar, with elected officials both at the district and union levels (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the only exception where local government is at the tehsil level rather than the district level). Councilors are typically directly elected at the union level, and they elect their representatives to the district level.
Nature of subnational governance institutions
Provinces are devolved political entities. Since the implementation of 18th amendment, they enjoy extensive autonomy and authority from the federal government. Divisions and district administrations are non-devolved (deconcentrated) institutions that are administratively and budgetarily controlled by provincial governments. There are variations in the degree of autonomy and authority of local governance institutions. While local governance institutions in Punjab and ICT are de jure specified as devolved institutions, in the absence of elected local representatives, the provincial government (and ICT administration) are still de facto in charge of political, administrative and fiscal/budget decision-making. In the three other provinces (Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan), elected local officials exist but generally lack meaningful political, administrative and fiscal/budget decision-making autonomy and authority. For instance, most local government administrators in Pakistan are actually provincial officials (Deputy Commissioners or Assistant Commissioners), handling local functions as an additional (unpaid) charge, in addition to their provincial duties. Local governments are further heavily constrained by a lack of funding, as most of these entities only generate less than 5% of their resources and primarily rely on provincial funds. Hence, Pakistan’s local governments, whether they have elected officials or not, in most cases should be considered non-devolved (deconcentrated) institutions. Selected urban local governments (e.g., Karachi and Quetta) are exceptions and may be considered hybrid local governance institutions.
Functional assignments
The legal (de jure) and actual (de facto) functions of local governments differ from one province to another, as they are specified under their respective province’s local government acts. In general, the functions of metropolitan/municipal corporations and district councils include, among others, the planning and execution development projects, the collection certain taxes and fees, solid waste management, land use control, local environmental protection, the regulation of street and public markets, the rental of local government properties, building regulations enforcement, and the maintenance of infrastructure (roads, streets, lights, traffic signs, playgrounds). The basic functions of Union Councils in all provinces is to deliver Birth/Death/Marriage registration certificates and to provide other basic services (such as mobilizing the community for the maintenance of streets and public lights, the plantation of trees, and the removal of encroachments, maintaining sources of public water, holding local fairs and other recreational activities, and taking any other measures to promote the welfare and health of the area’s inhabitants). In practice, provincial governments are–in one way or another–involved in virtually all localized public services, regardless of the legal assignment of functions.
LoGICA Assessments
LoGICA Intergovernmental Profile: Pakistan 2024 (Excel)
Additional resources
Pakistan Country Profile (World Observatory on Subnational Governance and Investment, OECD/UCLG)
Local government country profile: Pakistan (UN Women)
The Local Government System in Pakistan. (Commonwealth Local Government Forum)
Back to Local Public Sector Alliance Intergovernmental Profiles – Country Page
Last updated: July 9, 2024