Restructuring Govt Depts.: ‘Right Man For the Right Job’

There would be no job cuts and the employees would be merged in other departments

DESPARDES — Restructuring of federal government institutions was in progress said Adviser to PM Khan on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain –who was present at the meeting of Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat Thursday.

The restructure, said Dr. Hussain, would be based on A) ‘right man for the right job’ narrative; B) scaling down number of existing units thru merging some of them and closing down a few. The important thing was that there would be no job cuts and the employees would be merged in other departments, he said.

The Adviser told the committee that according to the findings of a survey, only 342 institutions would remain with the federal government, while the rest would be merged or shut down. The body was informed that eight institutions of federal government would be shut down.

Dr Hussain informed the committee that members of his task force were a mix of civil society, academia, private sector and six secretaries of the government.

Experts from 1,345 sectors had been consulted, he said, and recommendations were received that included recruitment and induction, training and performance management, career progression and promotion, and compensation and benefits.

The committee also delved into various measures being suggested to improve civil services and the Central Superior Services (CSS) examination system and syllabus.

This year’s CSS exam results were alarming sending shockwaves throughout the country’s community of professionals and left many wondering what went wrong, according to a report in The Express Tribune. Less than three per cent of those who appeared for the competitive exam was able to clear it, according to results put up by the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) more than a week ago, the report said.

“Past years’ CSS success rates have been more or less within the same range, raising questions regarding the efficacy of both the assessment process and the country’s education standards.”