PM Shehbaz orders abolishment of Pak PWD

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif on Monday passed directives to abolish the Pakistan Public Works Department (Pak PWD) with immediate effect due to its years-long ‘poor performance and corruption’, ARY News reported.

The prime minister passed these directives while chairing a high-level meeting on reducing the government expenditures and the size of its infrastructure.

“Pak PWD as a department has failed to achieve its objectives,” PM Shehbaz observed during the meeting. He also sought an alternate mechanism for the development projects that were earlier tasked with the Pak PWD.

The prime minister was also informed about the reduction of government expenditures. A report compiled by a committee headed by Chairman Deputy Planning Commission Jehanzeb Khan was presented to PM Shehbaz.

The committee had also recommended for abolishment of certain government entities as well as the mergers of departments.

The prime minister directed the committee to finalise its recommendations.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb, Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema, PM’s Adviser on Political Affair Rana Sanaullah, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jehanzeb Khan and other relevant senior officials.

Earlier, it was reported that in order to meet the International Monetary Fund (IMF) target and demands, the development budget of Pakistan is reportedly being affected.

According to recent documents, out of the development budget of Rs 950 billion, only Rs 379 billion have been utilized to meet IMF targets this year.

These budget reductions have damaged the various sectors including health, higher education and infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

The already ongoing projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) require Rs 9,800 billion, while the federal PSDP proposal is Rs 1,221 billion for the next financial year.