58% say Centre ignoring provinces: survey

ISLAMABAD: Six out of every 10 Pakistanis have complained about the federal government neglecting the provinces and unfairly distributing resources, according to a survey by the Institute for Public Opinion Research, in which more than 1,000 people from across the country participated.

In the survey, 58pc of Pakistanis said the federal government is neglecting the provinces, while 35pc disagreed and said the provinces are being given adequate resources, while 6pc did not answer the question. The highest number of complaints about not receiving adequate resources from the federal government were made by 74pc of people from Sindh, 68pc from Balochistan, 65pc from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while the lowest number of complaints were made by 47pc from Punjab.

When asked what are the reasons behind nationalist movements? 33pc cited political deprivation as the biggest reason, 21px cited lack of development, 14pc foreign interference, 10pc state violence, while 6pc cited racial discrimination as the main reason. When asked what the government should do to strengthen Pakistan, 28pc of respondents said the government should strengthen democratic institutions, 19pc favoured equitable distribution of resources, 16pc called for ending interference by undemocratic forces, 15pc said respect for human rights, and 13pc said respect for regional identity were essential for Pakistan’s stability.

In the survey, 66pc of Pakistanis also complained about not getting real representation, however, 27pc disagreed with this, saying that their real representatives were currently in the assemblies, while 7pc did not answer this question.