Prime Minister Gilani has said that the matter of Seraiki province will be taken to the National Assembly and that his government would favour the move. This is hardly the time to indulge in such gimmicks. The general impression is that the government is trying to put a gloss over its shoddy performance during the past three and a half years. No doubt there is frustration and resentment in the south of Punjab for constant neglect of their problems. A large part of the population is forced to live in abject poverty while feudalism and absentee landlordism remain the order of the day. But creation of a separate province is not the right solution. If the government is really sensitive to the misery of the people it should solve their problems by improving administrative machinery and increasing development funds. It should also see to it that the funds allocated for this area are spent diligently. Instead of gaining political mileage through slogans of a separate Seraiki province, the government must carry out development work and create jobs without further delay. The logic that since Bahawalpur was a princely state before independence, it must now be turned into a separate province also does not make for a winning argument. There are several other princely states like Swat, which could also start campaigning for provincial status. This will only result in political instability and weaken the federation. These parochial tendencies are a direct affront to the golden saying of founder of the nation Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah that unity is strength. Besides, there are lots of other regions in the country as well some of which are already demanding to be turned into new provinces. These include the Potohar region, D.I Khan, and several others. It is also obvious that a lot of money and resources would be needed to set up separate provinces. Keeping in view the state of economy, this is not something that the state can afford. We must not forget that this is also a time when we would be playing into our detractors plans to pitch countrymen against each other, by dividing us along ethnic and sectarian lines. Under circumstances of the sort, one would have thought that the government would had shunned provincialism. While it must do everything it can to uplift the socio-economic plight of south Punjab, it should also promote unity among it's people.