IT is really the first time that any government is giving special emphasis to bring reforms in the institutions as it is the only way to improve governance and ensure transparency besides reducing unnecessary expenditure.
The government reportedly has finalized a plan to restructure 441 departments. Of these, it has been decided to abolish five federal departments whilst handing over forty three departments to ‘Sarmaya Pakistan Company’. About thirty five departments are reported to be merged. Adviser on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat and his team really deserve appreciation for reaching this stage after hectic deliberations and consultation process. But in our view before moving ahead on the implementation, it is also important that the concerns of the employees working in these departments are also addressed. Currently there is quite uneasiness and restlessness amongst the employees, and rightly so, as to what will be their future. No person should be rendered jobless in the process of the implementation of the restructuring plan. We will rather suggest that no department should be abolished or merged rather reforms should be introduced in such a manner that these public sector departments start delivering to the expectations of the masses. Entities such as Pakistan Steel Mills and Pakistan International Airlines should be made profitable with the cooperation of the private sector and appointing the top people there on merit. Most importantly, the policy of ad-hocism should be done away with as this has greatly ravaged the public sector departments. We will suggest the government to formulate a policy vis-à-vis induction of employees on a permanent basis by eliminating the vogue contract system. Already thousands of jobs are lying vacant in several departments and these must be filled as part of the restructuring plan. There are also departments which are overstaffed and their employees should be transferred to other places keeping in view their expertise and skills. We expect that the proposed restructuring plan will help make the departments more responsive and responsible and help the government achieve its targets in different areas.
