PM, ministers to be delegated power to appoint govt dept heads

ISLAMABAD: The PTI government has made its mind to delegate powers to the prime minister, ministers and secretaries for appointment of heads of attached departments and public sector entities, while the authority currently rests with the federal cabinet.

The Cabinet Division has sent a letter to all the ministries and divisions seeking input to make amendments in the respective acts/rules and replace the word federal government with appropriate authorities. Under the move, the powers resting with the federal cabinet will be delegated to the prime minister, relevant minister and secretary for appointment of the heads of attached departments and CEOs/managing directors of public sector entities. With such decision, merit and transparency in the appointment process will be badly compromised. In the federal cabinet, the ministers and advisers usually put tough questions when a summary seeking appointment of any head of attached or public sector entity is before them and also filter the shortlisting process of the candidates. The due diligence of candidate is done owing to which the concerned minister sometimes could not get his or her ‘beloved’ candidate on the post because of the legitimate criticism from cabinet members.

However, the decision has been taken on the desires of federal ministers. According to the documents available with The News, last time, Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum, had tried to get Asad Khan appointed as managing director of Pak-Arab Refinery Company (PARCO), but after quality inputs from the cabinet members regarding the summary and attached documents, the candidate, whom the minister and SAPM had put on the top of the candidates list in the summary, was rejected by the members.

The federal cabinet had found that Asad Khan possessed the bachelor's degree while in the advertisement master's degree was required for the post of MD PARCO.

Under the new scenario as per the documents received, the federal cabinet has decided that all the ministries and divisions should, in consultation with the law and Justice Division, make amendments in respective acts/rules and replace the word federal government with appropriate authorities. The directives of the prime minister, on the above lines were conveyed again by the secretary to the prime minister on November 19, 2018. It was directed therein that all ministries/divisions shall go through the rules and regulations made under different federal legislations, being administered by them and move the cases for the requisite amendments, if deemed appropriate, on priority basis, in the prescribed manner. During the cabinet meeting held on August 11, 2020, the prime minister was pleased to observe that despite explicit directions of the federal cabinet, the processing of requisite amendments in the statutory rules and regulations, framed different legislations, is dismally slow. Accordingly, the federal cabinet is pleased to reiterate its earlier decision and to the desire that the above exercise be completed on priority after following the necessary legal and codal formalities.

It is pertinent to note that a report in this regard has to be submitted to the cabinet in a month’s time. Ministries and divisions have been asked to furnish the details of the actions taken so far on the format on or before September 15, 2020.