Already under immense pressure from the opposition parties’ anti-government campaigns, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has finally decided to keep his ministers happy at the cost of the taxpayer’s money by notifying the creation of four new ministries/divisions.
The newly formed ministries include Ministry of National Heritage and Integration/National Heritage and Integration Division, Ministry of Disaster Management/Disaster Management Division, Ministry of National Regulations and Services/National Regulations and Services Division and Ministry of Food Security and Research/Food Security and Research Division.
Since there is no infrastructure available for the new ministries, experts opine that Rs 300 million to Rs 400 million would be needed to meet the running expenditure of the same. However, the government is set to face a huge problem, as no allocation has been made in the financial budget for the new ministries. Hence, the government would be compelled to cut development budget to meet the desired expenditure. The new ministries would take the tally to 37.
Former State Bank of Pakistan governor Dr Ishrat Hussain said the national commission for government reforms, under his leadership, had conducted research for two years to make recommendations to the government on reforms and restructuring. “The creation of new ministries is contrary to what we had suggested. The commission had recommended the government to keep the number of ministries to 23 and devolve other ministries to the provinces. However, it saddens to note that the report has not been adhered to,” he added.
Dr Ishrat Hussain said that the commission had recommended forming a new ministry named “Ministry of Regulatory Agencies Affairs” under which all regulatory agencies including PEMRA, OGRA, NEPRA, etc could be administered. Though the government made a deliberate effort to conceal the objectives of the new ministries, there was an immediate allocation of two of the newly-formed ministries to Samina Khalid Ghurki (National Heritage Ministry) and Mir Israrullah Zehri (Food Security Division).
Ministry of NDMA and Ministry of National Regulations and Services are yet to be allocated.
Ghurki and Bajrani belong to the ruling PPP, while Zehri is the president of the Balochistan National Party-Awami (BNP-A). “The ministry of inter-provincial coordination (IPC), which was without minister since Raza Rabbani’s resignation, has now been handed over to Mir Hazar Khan Bajarani, who was minister without portfolio,” an official source told Pakistan Today.
The new ministries also question the government’s commitment to implement the 18th Amendment, as under the amendment, the number of ministers had to be reduced. “Under rule 3 (2) of the Rules of Business, 1973, the prime minister may whenever necessary, constitute a new ministry consisting of one or more divisions”, said an official handout, adding that under the new arrangement all federal administrative subjects had been restructured that remained with the federal government after the devolution process.
