Cabinet Committee proposes curtailing 150,000 vacant posts

Saqib Mushtaq

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms Friday recommended for curtailing150,000 vacant positions, banning contingency recruitment, and outsourcing non-core services like cleaning, janitorial work, which will gradually phase out many positions in grades 1 to 16.

In a meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, for reducing public sector size and expenses, the committee, chaired by the Federal Finance Minister, presented its recommendations for right-sizing in the federal government departments. The Ministry of Finance was asked to oversee the cash balances of other federal ministries.

The committee provided a detailed briefing on recommended reforms for five federal ministries: the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions, Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, the Ministry of Industry and Production, and the Ministry of National Health Services.

The committee proposed merging the Ministry of Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan with the Ministry of State and Frontier Regions (SAFRON). The proposal involves closing 28 institutions across these five ministries, transferring the Privatization Ministry and some other ministries to federal units, and merging 12 institutions within these ministries.

Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister directed that these proposed reforms should be approved by the Federal Cabinet and that a comprehensive plan for their implementation be presented. He emphasized that curtailing government expenditure was his top priority. The goal of the government’s institutional reforms was to lessen the burden on the national treasury and enhance the quality of services provided to the public, he said.

The PM directed that institutions failing to demonstrate adequate public service performance and burdening the national exchequer should be either terminated immediately or privatized without delay. The prime minister vowed to personally oversee the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), an organization supporting small and medium enterprises, and directed that SMEDA be brought under the Prime Minister’s Office.

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister of State for Information Technology and Telecom Shaza Fatima, Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz Malik, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jahanzeb Khan, Prime Minister’s Coordinator for National Health Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath, Prime Minister’s Coordinator Bilal Azhar Kayani and relevant senior government, officials participated the meeting.