Govt to Abolish 4 Key Ministries

The federal government has prepared proposals to abolish four key ministries, but not IT and Telecommunications. Right-sizing has been completed at the Ministry of IT and Telecom but the government will not shut it down. MoITT has clarified that “there is no plan to abolish the ministry. Recommendations for right-sizing attached departments are being sought by the “Committee on the Right Sizing of the Federal Government”. Sources told ProPakistani that a plan has been developed to eliminate the ministries of Industries and Production, Health, Kashmir Affairs, and SAFRON. A final decision regarding the employees of these ministries will be made before July 30. Various suggestions have been prepared regarding the future of the employees of the abolished ministries. The first suggestion is to offer a golden handshake package to the affected employees. As an alternative, the employees of the dissolved ministries could be integrated into other ministries. According to sources, the proposal to include the affected employees of the abolished ministries in a surplus pool is also under consideration. The Institutional Reforms Cell has prepared these proposals in collaboration with the relevant ministries. Consultation with the IMF will take place regarding the packages to be offered to the affected employees. A briefing will be given to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for a final decision on the proposals concerning the employees of the four ministries to be abolished. Sources claim that a final decision on the abolition of the four ministries and the future of their employees will be made by July 30. On the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Institutional Reforms Cell started working on rightsizing to reduce the number of ministries. The premier had asked the Institutional Reforms Cell to prepare a report on rightsizing within a week in collaboration with these ministries.