ISLAMABAD: Law Minister Azam Tarar has said that rightsizing in the government entities is the need of the hour, as, according to him, loss-making government enterprises are causing losses of “hundreds of billions of rupees” to the national kitty.
Speaking at the Senate session on Wednesday, the minister said, the employees of certain government bodies would be given the option to take early retirement after completing a certain period of service.
“No government employee would be sacked suddenly,” Tarar said in the Senate question hour, in response to a question posed by Aon Abbas Buppi from Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), on rightsizing, abolishment and merger of different ministries.
“It’s not our intention to render the people jobless. Nobody would be sacked in violation of the law. The rightsizing would be done within legal framework,” Tarar said.
“But rightsizing has to be done; it’s the need of the hour. The loss-making government entities are causing losses of hundreds of billions of rupees to the national kitty,” he added.
Three ministries have been abolished and rightsizing is under way in few other ministries, he said.
The written reply submitted by the Cabinet Division in the Senate in response to Buppi’s query stated: The rightsizing proposals for the following ministries were approved by the cabinet in phase I, and are now in the implementation stage (i) Capital Administration and Development (dysfunctional) (ii) Industries and Production (iii) Information Technology and Telecommunication (iv) Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan (v) National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and (vi) States and Frontier Regions.
According to the written reply, rightsizing proposals for the following ministries were approved by the cabinet in Phase II, and their implementation plans are being finalised: (i) Science and Technology (ii) Commerce (iii) Housing and Works, and (iv) National Food Security and Research.
In phase III, stated the Cabinet Division’s reply, rightsizing proposals for the following ministries are being finalised: (i) Energy (Power Division) (ii) Federal Education and Professional Training (iii) Information and Broadcasting (iv) National Heritage and Culture, and (v) Finance Division.
The following ministries have been selected for phase IV (i) Railways (ii) Communications (iii) Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety (iv) Energy (Petroleum Division), and (v) Revenue Division, said the reply.
“The exercise is for all the 41 divisions, expected to be completed during the current financial year. The surplus employees, as a regular practice, are placed on surplus pool to be further adjusted on need basis by the Establishment Division,” the Cabinet Division stated in the reply.
Aslam Abro from Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lambasted the federal government for the drastic slowdown in the internet speed across the country. “The world has reached the moon but we are still grappling with the issues like slow internet,” he said.
In response, Information Technology State Minister Shaza Fatima Khawaja passed the buck on Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), saying, the PTA deals with the matter.
The IT exports witnessed 33 percent in the first five months of the current fiscal year, she claimed. The number of internet users increased by 25 percent over the last one year, added the state minister.
Kamran Murtaza from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) said the practice of illegal abductions of people has increased over last few weeks in Balochistan. The security forces are blamed for these abductions, he added.
The session was adjourned till Friday.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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