Five ministries to be rightsized in second phase of reforms

Exercise will lead to closure and merger of several enterprises, which are expected to affect thousands of employees

By Rana Ghulam Qadir

August 25, 2024

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chairs a meeting of cabinet committee on rightsizing of the government departments on August 16, 2024. — PID

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to start the second phase of rightsizing the departments and ministries.

The Rightsizing Committee has started working on all options, including mutual integration of five ministries and divisions or closure or mutual integration of their subsidiaries in the second phase of reforms.

The prime minister has given two weeks to the Rightsizing Committee Chairman and Finance Minister Senator Aurangzeb for it. The five ministries that have been selected for phase 2 are the Board of Investment, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, Ministry of Housing and Construction and Ministry of Science and Technology.

The exercise will lead to closure and merger of several enterprises, which are expected to affect thousands of employees, but it would reduce the government’s administrative costs.

The PWD, a subsidiary of the Ministry of Housing and Construction, has already been shut down. Apart from this, the subsidiary organizations of the ministry include Estate Office Management, Pakistan Housing Authority Foundation, Federal Government Employees Housing Authority, Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Limited and National Construction Limited. The duties of PHA Foundation and Federal Government Employees Housing Authority are similar.

The 15 departments attached to the Ministry of Commerce are Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, Trading Corporation of Pakistan, State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan, National Insurance Company Limited, Pakistan Re-Insurance Company, Trade Dispute Resolution Organization, Expo Center Lahore, National Tariff Commission, Directorate of Trade Organization, Pakistan Institute of Trade and Development, Pakistan Horticulture Development and Export Company, Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan, Export Development Fund and Textile Commissioners Organization. There are three institutions related to insurance. The 13 institutions affiliated to the Ministry of Science and Technology are National Institute of Electronics, National Institute of Oceanology, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Pakistan Council of Renewable Energy Technologies, Council for Work and Housing Research, Pakistan Science Foundation, Pakistan Council for Science and Technology, Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority, Pakistan National Accreditation Council, National Metrology Institute of Pakistan, Pakistan Engineering Council, Pakistan Halal Authority and Technology Commercialization Corporation of Pakistan Limited. Three universities are also affiliated to the ministry, including NUST, COMSATS University and National University of Technology. Agricultural Law Policy Institute, Federal Seed Certification and Registration Department, Animal Quarantine Department, National Veterinary Laboratory and the Department of Plant Protection are among the subsidiaries of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. The autonomous bodies include PARC and Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation. The Board of Investment has several wings.