What is the real challenge facing Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif?
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is facing the challenge of being ousted by the bureaucracy as it has failed the efforts of successive governments to reduce the sprawling size of the federation and this is the real challenge of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The Prime Minister's decision to ignore the recommendations of the two austerity committees already formed by him himself, and to appoint a third one headed by the Finance Minister to reduce the size of the federal government. Doubts have arisen.
Informed sources said the federal cabinet had approved a major restructuring plan of the federal government during the PTI regime and decided to retain 325 federal government institutions out of the total 441. However, despite the approval of the cabinet, the project remained unworkable due to bureaucracy.
It is said that the approval of the PTI government's cabinet is still acceptable and the current government can implement it if it has the political will.
The Shehbaz Sharif government is under pressure from the media and political parties to reduce their expenditure instead of taxing the people more.
On the recommendation of the Task Force on Institutional Reforms headed by the then Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Imran Khan's cabinet approved the privatization or transfer of 43 government institutions to Sarmaya Pakistan Limited, transfer of 15 institutions to provincial governments, Islamabad Capital Territory and Gilgit-Baltistan. , closure or liquidation of eight institutions and merger of 32 institutions were approved.
The PTI Cabinet approved the proposal to reconstitute 17 institutes as Training and Policy Support Institutes. It was decided that the government would maintain 325 institutions under two broad categories (a) executive department and (b) autonomous body.
The Imran Khan government's Task Force on Austerity and Government Restructuring examined 441 institutions of the federal government and divided them into 18 categories, including constitutional bodies, regulatory authorities, courts/tribunals, commercial/semi-commercial institutions. , public facilities/service providers, promotion institutions, financial institutions, training institutions, research/data/documentation institutions, educational institutions, quality assurance bodies, development authorities, councils/commissions/committees, trusts/foundations, Executive agencies, security/enforcement bodies, scientific research institutions and others were involved.
To implement the restructuring plan as approved, the PTI cabinet also approved the implementation plan, but it could not be implemented due to bureaucratic resistance.
Dr. Ishrat Hussain was disappointed to say goodbye to the PTI government as his major reform work could not be completed due to the lack of political will of the then government despite being approved by the cabinet.
In 2021, the government was told that the number of federal employees had increased despite the demise of the powers, as per the figures, there was a sudden increase of 137,000 new arrivals in 2016-17.
Dr. Ishrat Hussain told the PTI government that the total number of federal employees in 2010-11 was 829,000 and this number remained stable till 2016-17 when there was a sudden increase of 137,000 new arrivals. Which made the total number 9 lakh 66 thousand. It is said that most of the 116,000 new recruits (85 per cent) were in the federal government (Secretariat and attached departments) while the increase in autonomous bodies was 21,000.
Like the Shehbaz Sharif government's last austerity committee, the PTI government's Task Force on Reforms also recommended eliminating 71,000 posts lying vacant for a year or more, but this was not done. The Shahbaz Sharif government also ignored this recommendation and recently handed it over to a new committee under the Finance Minister.