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Tuesday March 19, 2024

Committee formed to regularise contractual federal employees

Contractual federal employees: The federal cabinet has formed a four-member committee for regularising the daily-wage and contractual employees in the federal government ministries and divisions.

By Our Correspondent
November 13, 2019

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday formed a four-member committee for regularising the daily-wage and contractual employees in the federal government ministries and divisions. The Establishment Department has issued a notification of the committee. 

The committee will be chaired by Law Minister Barrister Farogh Naseem, while other members include Adviser on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Adviser on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain and Adviser on Establishment Division Shahzad Arbab.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said after the cabinet meeting that the cabinet affirmed that positive impacts of improvement in economic indicators will be passed on to public. Dr Firdous said Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh apprised the cabinet of improvement in economic indicators, the government's policies leading to encouraging economic results and problems faced by common people and strategies to resolve them. He also informed the meeting about not only successfully achieving the targets, but also surpassing them in first quarter of this financial year in the areas of revenue collection, taxes, industrialisation, export-oriented strategy, foreign reserves, remittances, economic stability and inflation.

Abdul Hafeez Shaikh further informed the meeting that due to turnaround of economy, the ultimate beneficiaries will be people of Pakistan. The prime minister appreciated the improvement in economic indicators and performance of the economic team and directed to disseminate information to public regarding these positive impacts.

Dr Firdous said Pakistan's economic policies have restored the confidence of international financial institutions including the IMF. The prime minister once again directed all provincial governments to expedite measures to control inflation and prices of essential items.

The performance of the provincial governments will be measured in how much reduction in prices their actions have brought so far. The provinces have been asked to furnish monthly reports on controlling prices. Dr Firdous said the prime minister directed to ensure that essential items are available at the network of Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan, for which the Rs6 billion has been already released. She said the technology will be utilised to overcome corruption and performance issues in the USC.

The prime minister also gave directions to the cabinet that all cabinet members must take responsibility of the performance of their respective ministries. If there is any issue, it will be the responsibility of the respective minister. The ministers will take their decisions on fast track basis.

Dr Firdous said the cabinet was apprised of key projects under CPEC including ML-1, airport, and other infrastructure that were discussed in the recent JCC meeting with Chinese counterparts. The prime minister directed to expedite work on CPEC projects. She said the cabinet was informed that 1,594 Pakistani prisoners from Saudi Arabia and 345 from Malaysia have returned to the country after serving their sentences due to special efforts made by the prime minister.

The cabinet expressed displeasure over a news reports carried by a section of media regarding inquiry commission to probe debt accumulated by previous governments. Dr Firdous said the said report was based on wrong statistics and fabricated facts. She said the prime minister expressed displeasure over shortage and inflation of certain perishable food items. She said the prime minister directed to devise a mechanism in which there is advance knowledge of perishable food items that could face shortage.

The special assistant expressed hope that there will not be shortage of food items in future. The cabinet also approved proposal of "Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Observatory" and "Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy".

In a statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar said the policy is binding on the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and its ancillary organisations. She said the policy is meant to address institutionalised corruption and collusion in social welfare organisations. The policy also outlines that within four years, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division will strive to use blockchain technology to ensure data transparency.