Ministries, divisions submit progress reports on PM’s order

ISLAMABAD: Following the directives of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the federal ministries and divisions have submitted detailed reports about their performance in last two and a half years, highlighting their achievements as well as bureaucratic hurdles hampering them from delivering to the masses, the sources told The News here on Wednesday.
“Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will initiate a new process of evaluating performance of the ministries, divisions and bureaucracy and he is likely to show the door to those who are believed to have failed to deliver to the masses,” the sources said.
The sources said the federal ministries not only made tall claims in the reports about their achievements but also mainly blamed the bureaucracy for creating hurdles in the development projects and introduction of new initiatives to serve the people in a befitting manner.
It is pertinent to mention here that the prime minister ordered the ministries and divisions to submit reportsfocusing on four basic queries: the extent to which they implemented the party’s manifesto; steps taken for public welfare; reforms initiated under their leadership; and a roadmap for the future.
A senior government official told this correspondent that the prime minister would now not tolerate any kind of lethargic attitude on the part of the cabinet members because he is determined to translate all those pledges into reality made in the election manifesto of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).
“The government will allocate record amount for the development projects out of Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the coming years and it needs efficient and dedicated cabinet members who can pursue the targets on fast-track basis,” he said.
He said: “It is not yet clear whether the prime minister will sack some federal ministers and replace them with new faces because he has not given any indication in this respect during the recent meetings with his close aides.”
The sources claimed that the prime minister is keeping the cards close to his chest and waiting for the right time to take bold decisions. The official said the prime minister in his recent chat with a couple of influential federal ministers said the governance of the incumbent government needs further improvement and the cabinet members must share the responsibility to live up to the expectations of the people.
He said the people would see good governance in action in the coming days as the top government functionaries would be supposed to present themselves on the spot wherever and whenever the public needs them.
The official pointed out that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has given cut-off date of December 2017 for the first time to end power load-shedding. He said, “The government will now leave no stone unturned to provide maximum relief to the people who have posed their confidence in the leadership of Nawaz Sharif in first phase of local government elections in Punjab.”
Despite repeated attempts by this correspondent, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Pervaiz Rasheed was not available for comments on this issue.