KARACHI – Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah approved the summary for merging 44 government departments into 28 on Friday, sources told Pakistan Today.
The Services, General Administration and Coordination Department of the provincial government recently proposed a summary for merging 44 existing administrative departments into 28 new ones to the chief minister. After the “right-sizing” of the federal cabinet, the Sindh government had also decided to shorten the cabinet by bringing the number of ministers at 22 however the coalition partners did not agree on the proposal.
However, a large number of ruling party’s leaders could not be adjusted in Sindh’s new small cabinet, compelling the senior PPP leadership to change the plan and increase the number of ministers from 22 to 28, the sources added. Interestingly, President Asif Zardari, during his recent visit to Karachi, also expressed his annoyance over the delay in formation of the new cabinet and instructed the chief minister to accelerate the process.
The sources said that the reduction in the size of Sindh’s cabinet would save at least Rs 3 billion a year, adding that the performance of the departments, which were bifurcated to please the coalition partners, would also improve after their reunification. After the go-ahead signal from the chief executive, the present Sindh’s cabinet would be dissolved very shortly, and the new cabinet members would take oath after the ongoing Sindh Assembly session completes.
After the merger of the departments, the extra posts of officials, who are drawing heavy salaries, perks and privileges, would also be abolished. The new departments that would be merged include: The Board of Revenue; Food, Agriculture and Bureau of Supply and Prices; Finance, Investment, Sindh Revenue Board; Auqaf, Religious Affairs, Zakat; Commerce and Manpower; Education and Literacy; Home; Narcotics and Communication; Coal, Mines and Mineral Development, Planning and Development; Irrigation; Law, Parliamentary Affairs, Human Rights and Criminal Prosecution; SGA&CD, Local Government, Housing, Katchi Abadis; Social Welfare, Women Development, Population Welfare; Minority Affairs; Culture, Tourism, Archives and Antiquities; Sports And Youth Affairs; Works and Services; Information; Health; Science and Information Technology; Transport and Labour; Energy; Livestock and Fisheries; Forest, Wildlife and Environment; Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management and Public Health Engineering and Rural Development.
