THE Federal Cabinet, which met in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday, took several important decisions to streamline working of the Federal Government and improve the security environment in the country. It approved recommendations submitted by the Committee on Restructuring and Rightsizing for the merger and dissolution of 82 government departments and State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). The meeting also approved Rs. 20 billion for Azm-e-Istehkam with the Prime Minister vowing to make available necessary resources to the defence forces to tackle the renewed surge in terrorism.
The fast-track approval of the right-sizing plan by the Federal Cabinet highlights both the sense of urgency and the firm determination of the Government to proceed ahead with implementation of the recommendations made by the cabinet panel. No details, for understandable reasons, have been given of the entities that are going to be merged or devolved to the provinces but the very fact that their strength would reduce to less than half sparks confidence about prospects of substantial saving in administrative costs. We have been emphasizing all along in these columns that saving alone should not be the criteria for right-sizing as delivery of service to the masses is more important. People have been overburdened with taxes and they legitimately expect honest utilization of the tax money and a visible improvement in the quality of service, which must be commensurate with the quantum of taxes being squeezed from different segments of the society. In this backdrop, one would appreciate the announcement from the PM Office that 82 entities are being transformed into 40 robust institutions through digitization, smart management, efficient governance, transparency and swift implementation to provide better facilities to the common man.
The Prime Minister, who himself remains active almost round-the-clock, pointed out that to bring the country’s system at par with international requirements and modern needs, the government is introducing digitization and smart management in departments and ministries. He is personally monitoring implementation of the decisions taken in respect of merger or devolution of the entities to the provincial governments and a significant progress has already been made vis-à-vis merger or abolition of some departments. It is also appreciable that the Government is mindful of the impact of the right-sizing plan on the staff as a large number of people with varying length of service cannot and should not be left at the mercy of circumstances. This is because they might have joined the public service for the sake of a secured career and future despite availability of opportunities in the private sector. The decision of the Government to keep employees of the affected ministries and departments in a surplus pool or transfer them to the provinces might help mitigate their woes to some extent. The final shape of the right-sizing has yet to emerge but it is genuine expectation of the people that the decisions should be well-considered obviating the need to revise them in foreseeable future as inconsistency also has a cost for the national exchequer. And approval of initial Rs. 20 billion for ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’ by the Cabinet is also an indication that the initiative would be pursued in its right earnest despite uncalled for criticism and opposition by some vested interests. These allocations are timely in view of the shocking level of violence that the nation witnessed in the length and breadth of Balochistan. The Prime Minister has rightly observed that the objective behind such heinous acts was to hinder the progress of the country, particularly the China-Pak Economic Corridor (CPEC) and create distances between China and Pakistan. He said that the time has come to put an end to terrorists saying that sacrifices given and being rendered for the cause would not be wasted. The nation stands firmly behind its law-enforcing agencies in their bid to eliminate the menace of terrorism and the campaign should be taken to its logical conclusion.
