KARACHI – Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Friday approved a summary for merging 44 government departments into 28, sources told Pakistan Today. The Services, General Administration and Coordination Department recently forwarded 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 cut the cabinet size by bringing the number of ministers to 22, however, the coalition partners did not agree to the proposal. During his recent visit to Karachi, President Asif Ali Zardari expressed his annoyance over the delay in the formation of the new cabinet and instructed the chief minister to expedite the process.
The sources said the reduction in the size of the Sindh 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 incumbent Sindh cabinet would be dissolved 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.
