Pakistan to abolish 150,000 posts, restructure 43 ministries by June

ISLAMABAD (APP): Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that the rightsizing of 43 ministries and their 400 attached departments will be done by June 30 of the current fiscal year to reduce expenditures and improve government efficiency.

“During this fiscal year, before June 30, all of this process will be done. All 42 ministries and their attached departments will be done away with,” the minister said at a press conference while sharing the six-month performance of the High-powered Committee on Rightsizing of the Federal Government.

The minister was accompanied by Bilal Azhar Kayani, Convener of the National Parliamentary Taskforce on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and Ambassador at Large Dr Salman Ahmad, who heads the implementation committee.

Briefing the media, the minister said that 60 per cent of vacant regular posts (that have not come in payroll), which stood at 150,000, would be abolished or declared as dying posts, creating a real financial impact. “All is being done after proper ratification from the federal cabinet.”

Also read: Privatisation of PIA, Discos to be completed before 2024 end: Aurangzeb

The committee, he said, also decided to outsource general non-course services including cleaning, plumbing and gardening to bring efficiency, reducing the number of contingency posts.

He said that it has also been decided that the ministry of finance would have live visibility on the cash balances of all government entities. “It cannot happen that at one side we are borrowing and on the other, government departments have idle cash balances.” However, he added, it has nothing to do with people, but to improve efficiency, adding it was being implemented in all ministries.

He said that in the first phase, six ministries including Kashmir Affair and Gilgit Baltistan, SAFRON; Information Technology and Telecom; Industries and Production; National Health Services Regulations and Coordination and the former Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) will be processed.

He said Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan have been merged while CADD has been abolished. The attached entities of these ministries have been reduced from eighty to forty.

Muhammad Aurangzeb said that in the second phase, the Ministries of Science and Technology, Commerce, Housing and Works, and National Food Security were considered. He mentioned that of the 60 entities belonging to these ministries, 25 will be wound up, 20 will be reduced and nine will be merged.

The finance minister also categorically stated that implementation of these decisions will be ensured. 

He said in the third phase, the recommendations relating to five Ministries including Federal Education and Professional Training, Information and Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture, Finance Division and Power Division will be sent to the Federal Cabinet for approval.

Aurangzeb expressed the commitment to take the country towards sustainable economic growth on the foundation of macroeconomic stability. He said the government’s targets are heading in the right direction.