A cabinet committee is exploring the closure or restructuring of five ministries to streamline the federal government and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
As per a news report, the ministries under consideration include Information Technology and Telecommunication, Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, States and Frontier Region Division (SAFRON), Industries and Production, and National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination.
The committee is assessing various actions such as retention, closure, modification, or transfer of these ministries to provincial governments. A presentation on this initiative was recently made to the cabinet, outlining the steps taken and plans moving forward.
The committee is also tasked with determining functions that are entirely provincial without international collaboration, safeguarding assets and human resources, and addressing relevant ancillary issues. Since June 21, 2024, the committee has held three meetings and defined the parameters for rightsizing.
All ministries were asked to provide detailed information on their organisational structure, employee status, budget, functions, and justifications for each function. The committee is considering whether to halt, retain, transfer, devolve, or privatize these functions and how to reform and economize retained functions.
In the first phase, five ministries have been selected for rightsizing, with reports on decisions due on August 2 and implementation plans on August 12. Information from remaining ministries will be gathered, and the next batch will be addressed by August 1.
The cabinet also reviewed the performance of SOEs, with the Cabinet Committee on SOEs holding several meetings to consider the retention of enterprises by declaring them as “strategic” or “essential.” Out of 84 SOEs identified by the Finance Division, 55 have been reviewed. Thirteen SOEs are deemed essential, five strategic, 15 slated for privatisation, and 22 under further consideration.
Four ministries – finance, IT and telecommunication, revenue, and communication – have yet to submit their SOE cases. The cabinet has directed its secretary to provide detailed information on SOE categorization at the next meeting.
