Senate panel told government to save Rs36.3bn annually through rightsizing

ISLAMABAD: The federal government is undertaking a significant restructuring effort, aiming to save Rs36.3 billion annually by abolishing or ‘dying’ nearly 40,000 posts across various ministries and departments.

Only two positions from the highest bureaucratic grade will be eliminated, indicating a targeted approach to rightsizing the government workforce.

Out of the total 38,692 posts to be abolished or declared as dying posts, only two will be abolished in BS-22, two in BS-21, 36 in BS-20, 99 in BS-19, 203 in BS-18, and 760 in BS-17. A total of 1,102 posts from BS-17 to BS-22 will be abolished.

As many as 102 posts have been declared as dying, which includes none from Grade 22 and 21, only one in Grade 20, 17 in Grade 19, 26 in Grade 18, and 58 in Grade 17. The bulk of abolished positions belong to Grades 1-16, and their total number stands at 30,968. Whereas, 7,724 posts have been declared as dying from Grades 1 to 16.

This was the crux of the information shared by Federal Secretary, Cabinet Division, Kamran Afzal, during the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenues held under the chairmanship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla at the Parliament House here on Wednesday.

The committee was informed that the performance of the Right-Sizing Committee was under regular review, with questions being raised to ensure transparency and accountability.

Senator Sherry Rehman expressed concern over the government’s approach to reforms. “On one hand, the government talks about cutting costs, yet on the other, it has doubled the size of the federal cabinet,” she stated. She also raised concerns that the right-sizing policy could cause significant hardship for government employees. “What will be the impact on those forced into early retirement?” she asked.