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South Punjab (Urdu: جنوبی پنجاب, romanized: Junūbī Panjāb),[1][2] also proposed as Bahawalpur-South Punjab;[3] Bahawalpur Janoobi Punjab, or Saraikistan;[4] are the names for the proposals to create a new province in Pakistan, out of the southern regions of Punjab.[5] The region comprises the Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions.[6][7][8] The proposed province would form about 52 percent of the total area and almost 40 percent of the population of the current Punjab province.[9][10] It has also been proposed to create instead two provinces in South Punjab.[11]
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In 2012, Punjab Provincial Assembly and the National Assembly passed resolutions for the creation of a new province in Punjab. These resolutions were supported by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PMLN) and were passed.[12]
In the 2013 election, the Peoples Party tried to mobilize voters from Southern Punjab over the creation of a separate province. But they got only one National Assembly seat from the region.[12]
In 2018 the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) promised to create a new province in South Punjab within the first 100 days of taking office, if they win.[13] PTI won the election and won 30 out of 50 seats of the National Assembly seats in South Punjab.[14] On 15 August 2018, PTI MPA of Punjab Assembly, Mohsin Leghari tabled a resolution for the creation of a new province in South Punjab.[12]
In 2019 Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) tendered a constitutional amendment seeking to create two new provinces; Bahawalpur (formed from Bahawalpur division) and Janubi Punjab (formed from Dera Ghazi Khan and Multan divisions). The bill proposed that the two new provinces would have 39 and 38 National Assembly seats respectively. Each province was also proposed to have its own High Court and Provincial Assembly.[11]
On 28 January 2022 the Senate of Pakistan accepted a bill seeking the creation of South Punjab province, and was supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People's Party (PPP).[15]
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In 2020, a separate civil secretariat was established for South Punjab. The secretariat was made up of Dera Ghazi Khan Division, Multan Division, and Bahawalpur Division. It became officially operational on 15 October 2020.[16]
Initially, the following departments were included in the separate Administrative Secretariat of South Punjab region: Services and General Administration, Home, Health, Education, Agriculture, Planning and Development, Livestock and Dairy Development, Local Government and Community Development, Housing, Urban Development and Public Health, Engineering, Irrigation, Forest, Communication and Works, and Revenue,[17] as well as Police.
In 2021, however, the Punjab Government "curtailed the administrative and financial powers" of the 15 departments devolved in the Secretariat, instead being declared "attached departments" subordinate to the Punjab Civil Secretariat. It was also noted in the new rules that “[t]he Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab, shall exercise such powers and functions as may be assigned to him by the Chief Secretary," and that Southern Secretaries were to perform their functions "as directed by the administrative secretaries in Punjab Civil Secretariat."[18]
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The Saraikistan Qaumi Council demanded the creation of a province by merging 24 districts in South Punjab and 2 districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts).[19][20]
The Main Political parties PTI, PPP, and PML(N) have differences in the geography of the proposed province. The PPP supports the formation of the South province by merging 14 districts of Punjab and as well as Dera Ismail Khan and Tank districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PTI supports the formation of the South Punjab province by merging 11 districts of South Punjab only. The PML(N) does not much support the division of Punjab into two separate provinces, but rather three.[13]
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The administrative divisions of the current secretariat:
| Name of Division | Name of District | Headquarter |
|---|---|---|
| Multan | Multan | |
| Bahawalpur | Bahawalpur | |
| Dera Ghazi Khan | Dera Ghazi Khan |
Language
The proportion of people with Saraiki as their mother tongue in each Pakistani District as of the 2017 Pakistan Census.
The major language spoken in Southern Punjab is Saraiki. Punjabi and Haryanvi are also spoken.[21] Urdu is the official lingua franca.[22]
Religion
Islam is the dominant religion in Southern Punjab, with a Sunni majority and a Shia minority.[23]
- History of Punjab
- Saraikis
- Hazara Province Movement, a proposed province in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
- Muhajir Province, a proposed province in Sindh, Pakistan
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