ISLAMABAD, AUGUST 17: On Friday, the Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms made recommendations that would progressively eliminate numerous posts in grades 1 through 16, reduce the number of open positions to 150,000, and outsource non-core functions like cleaning and janitorial labor.
The committee made its proposals for rightsizing in federal government agencies during a meeting to reduce public sector size and costs, which was presided over by Prime Minister (PM) Shahbaz Sharif. Monitoring the cash balances of other federal ministries was entrusted to the Ministry of Finance.
PM Shehbaz received a thorough briefing from the committee outlining the suggested changes for five federal ministries: the Ministry of National Health Services; the Ministry of Industry and Production; the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions; the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication; and the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The Ministry of Kashmir will combine
The committee suggested that the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) combine with the Ministry of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The plan calls for consolidating 12 institutions within these five ministries, shutting 28 institutions across these five ministries, and moving the Privatization Ministry and a few other ministries to federal units.
Speaking at the event, PM Shehbaz gave the order for the Federal Cabinet to accept these suggested reforms and to provide a detailed implementation plan. He made it clear that cutting back on government spending was his main concern.
He stated that improving the quality of public services and reducing the burden on the national treasury were the two main objectives of the government’s institutional changes. The Prime Minister issued an order mandating that establishments that burden the national coffers by not exhibiting sufficient public service performance be promptly terminated or privatized.
The prime minister ordered that SMEDA be placed under the Prime Minister’s Office and pledged to personally supervise the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), a group that assists small and medium-sized businesses.
Ahsan Iqbal, the federal minister for planning, Ahad Khan Cheema, the federal minister for economic affairs, Muhammad Aurangzeb, the federal minister for finance and revenue, Rana Tanveer Hussain, the federal minister for industries and production, Shaza Fatima, the minister of state for information technology and telecom, Ali Pervaiz Malik, the minister of state for finance, Jahanzeb Khan, the deputy chairman of the planning commission, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Bilal Azhar Kayani, and other senior government officials attended the meeting.
