Govt forms committee for downsizing of federal govt , address pension issue

Islamabad : March 14, 2024: Setting a tone to take thorney issues head on , Shahbaz government has set up a 7-member committee headed by Deputy Chairman Planning Commission , Mr Ahsin Iqbal , to formulate a strategy to downsize the federal government, besides addressing teething pension scheme issue of the country. Other members of the committee included secretary Finance , Secretary Cabinet , Secretary I&P , Dr Qaisar Bangali, Dr Furrukh Saleem and Dr Naveed Iftikhar . The issue of the size of the federal government in post 18th amendment era and pension scheme are among those serious issues which are hurting Pakistan’s economy more than many other issues. Only pension scheme of the federal government employees is costing around Rs 1000 billion to Pakistan annually .

The over size of the federal government itself is a thorney issue.After 18th amendment , dozens of departments of the federal government were to be devolved to the provinces . This amendment did transferred funds to the provinces , but the departments which were to be devolved to the provinces remained operational with the federal government. This ill- conceived strategy added to the financial resources of the provinces, but gradually over burdened the federation that made it financially weak. None of the respective government took these issues seriously.

Although some efforts were made in the last Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) rule , but these efforts did not yield desired result. Now when Pakistan is in huge financial crisis , Shahbaz government has set a high tone to address the issues of downsizing of the federal government and pension scheme. Addressing of the issues of size of the federal government and pension scheme can cut down the expense of the federal government considerably.