Delay in tasks: 27 ministries, divisions issued red letter

ISLAMABAD: In a rare development, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has issued a 'red letter' to 27 ministries/divisions for a critical delay in the tasks they were assigned under the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The red letter, which is considered to be a final warning and expression of displeasure, was issued to the secretaries for 27 federal ministries/divisions out of a total of 34 ministries. The Prime Minister Office asked the ministries/divisions concerned to complete the tasks they were assigned by September 9 and submit a compliance report on the matter to the prime minister.

According to the red letter issued to one ministry/division, it had earlier been given 30 days to complete certain tasks.

The letter says that in order to ensure clarity, two briefing sessions had also been convened. Initially, a yellow letter was issued to the ministry on August 17, noting that half of the time that they were given for completion of the tasks had elapsed.

“However, despite this situation, the task got critically delayed and now is lying overdue at your end,” the letter stated, adding that no further extension would be granted to the ministry.

The PMO noted that the red letter would factor into the performance report of the ministry/division concerned, urging them to complete tasks for which deadlines had not yet elapsed.

In March, the PMO said that Prime Minister Imran Khan would conduct a quarterly review of all the ministries and cabinet divisions of the government, for which a notice was sent to all federal secretaries.