Hafeez to replace Sarmaya Pakistan with less complicated variant

Prime Minister's Advisor on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is all set to replace Sarmaya Pakistan, a brainchild of former Minister for Finance, Asad Umar (now Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives) with a new, less complicated variant, well informed sources told Business Recorder.
This was disclosed by him at a recent meeting of the Federal Cabinet during discussion on a plan for "re-organizing the federal government - proposals regarding executive departments and autonomous bodies". At the time of establishment of Sarmaya Pakistan the then Finance Minister, Asad Umar, had stated that "turning around state-owned enterprises and eliminating their losses that are eating up resources which should be used for development and welfare is vital for the economic turnaround of Pakistan".
Sharing the details, the sources said, last year the federal cabinet had constituted an implementation committee on re-organizing the federal government under the convenorship of Advisor to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain. The mandate of the committee was to work out an implementation strategy/work plan in consultation with the Task Force and submit a monthly progress report.
Soon after its constitution, the committee held its first meeting on July 23, 2019 and devised the strategy. Subsequently, the first monthly report consisting of the deliberations of first four meetings of the committee was submitted to the federal cabinet in its meeting held on September 17, 2019; the second monthly report consisting of the recommendations of the committee made during the fifth to ninth meetings was presented to the federal cabinet in its meeting held on November 11, 2019.
The decisions of the Cabinet taken in the meeting were sent to the Cabinet Division for implementation. The Cabinet Division has implemented those decisions through eight memoranda issued from December 23, 2019 to January 13, 2020. During the period from October 2019 to January 2020 the committee held thirteen meetings. The representatives of the Ministries/Divisions/ Departments were invited and the proposals were discussed threadbare.
The recommendations included those made with the consensus of all the stakeholders. The proposals which were deliberated on but could not be finalized and are still under discussions will be submitted before the cabinet after finalization.
It was revealed that the classification of the recommendations so far made by the committee during this period was as follows: (i) bifurcation of entities mentioned in the 'report on reorganizing the federal government' into two categories i.e. organizations on privatisation/Sarmaya Pakistan, a holding to turn around state-owned enterprises by eliminating their losses. Sixteen entities were recommended for placement on active list of privatisation and 30 for placement in privatisation/Sarmaya Pakistan.
The committee recommended the transfer of four departments of four Ministries/Division to provinces/other Ministries/Divisions/Islamabad Capital Territory and winding up/liquidation of four departments of four Ministries/Divisions; (ii) merger of five departments of four Ministries/Divisions; (iii) categorizations of 42 of organizational entities of 15 Ministries/Divisions as Executive Departments; (iv) categorization of 117 organisational entities of 17 Ministries/Divisions as autonomous bodies; and (v) categorizations of Secretariat Training Institute as constituent unit of the Civil Service Academy.
During discussion, Dr Ishrat Hussain emphasized that the recommendation for placement of certain entities in Sarmaya Pakistan had been made in light of an earlier Cabinet decision. However, he sought clarity whether the concept of Sarmaya Pakistan was still in place or not.
Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that due to legal complications associated with the concept of Sarmaya Pakistan, easier alternatives are being explored. The picture would become clearer once a less complicated variant is finalized.
A cabinet member expressed concern over the fate of employees affected by the winding up/merger of various organisations. It was clarified that as per the earlier directions of the Cabinet no employee would be laid off and instead would go into surplus pool for further adjustment in other organisations.
It was also noted that the terms "Executive Departments" and "Autonomous Bodies" have not been defined which is required and attendant changes should be proposed in the Rules of Business as well.
The issue of growing burden of pensions was also highlighted and need for a viable pension plan was emphasized. Prime Minister Imran Khan cited the example where pension fund was being used as a resource for development whereas in Pakistan it had become a huge liability with time.
The prime minister directed Hafeez Sheikh and Dr Ishrat Hussain to jointly work out a viable plan within two months by engaging experts in the field to ease the burden of pensions. After some detailed discussion, the Establishment Division was directed to suggest attendant changes to the Rules of Business 1973 besides defining different terms used in the re-organisation proposal.
The Establishment Division was further directed to develop a coherent plan for those employees expected to become surplus as a result of liquidation/merger. The plan shall also suggest solution to seniority issues due to merger.