ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Tuesday said the federal government planned to abolish nearly 150,000 vacant government posts by June to implement its rightsizing reforms, which aim to reduce expenditures and enhance efficiency of public departments.
Pakistan’s federal government established an austerity committee in Feb. 2024 to cut its expenditures and implement institutional rightsizing reforms.
On Dec. 24, the committee proposed the closure and merger of various departments in the Ministries of Science and Technology, Commerce, Housing and Works, and National Food Security.
The committee also suggested the federal cabinet to reduce staff in these ministries by 30 percent, aiming to save the national exchequer around Rs42.1 billion ($151 million) annually.
“For the rightsizing of federal government, entire process, including recommendations and implementation for all 43 ministries and their 400 attached departments, will be completed before June 30,” Aurangzeb said at a press conference in Islamabad.
“Sixty percent of vacant regular posts, approximately 150,000, will be abolished or declared redundant, resulting in a significant financial impact.”
The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to revive its $350 billion economy since avoiding a default in June 2023. The South Asian country last year secured a new $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and has been actively pursuing trade and investment opportunities to put the economy on the path of recovery.
Sharing six-month performance of the austerity committee, he said general non-core services, including gardening, cleaning and plumbing, were outsourced by government departments to improve efficiency, while contingency posts were reduced to some extent.
“In the first phase, decisions were made concerning six ministries, including Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, SAFRON (State and Frontier Regions), IT and Telecom, Industries and Production, National Health Services, and the Capital Administration and Development Division (CAD),” he said.
The committee decided to abolish CAD and merge the Ministries of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan with SAFRON, according to the finance minister. This reduced 80 entities associated with these ministries to 40.
In the second phase, he said, the Ministries of Science and Technology, Commerce, Housing and Works, and National Food Security were reviewed.
“Out of the 60 entities within these ministries, 25 will be dissolved, 20 will be reduced, and nine will be merged,” Aurangzeb said, promising to ensure implementation of the austerity committee’s decisions.
“In the third phase, recommendations regarding five ministries, Federal Education and Professional Training, Information and Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture, Finance Division, and Power Division, will be submitted to the federal cabinet for approval.”
Pakistan to abolish 150,000 government posts this year to implement rightsizing reforms
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Pakistan to abolish 150,000 government posts this year to implement rightsizing reforms
- The development comes amid Pakistan’s efforts to revive its $350 billion economy since avoiding a default in 2023
- The Pakistani government’s rightsizing process involves 43 ministries and 400 departments affiliated with them
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
