ISLAMABAD: After being over two years in power, the government appears cold shouldering its idea of turning around 441 public sector entities through Sarmaya-i-Pakistan Ltd as it finds it an ineffective way forward.

A final decision is expected to follow over the next couple of weeks but there was almost convergence of views among key cabinet members on Wednesday at a meeting that there was “no need to reinvent the wheel” while different laws and statutes governed so many entities.

Instead, the majority view was that the government should move ahead with recommendations of Institutional Reforms Adviser Dr Ishrat Hussain to deal with all these 441 entities on six different lines under a tight and regular monitoring mechanism.

The Cabinet Committee on the State-owned Enterprises (CCSOEs) that met here to discuss the governance reforms in the state-owned enterprises and the reconstitution of the board of directors of Sarmaya-i-Pakistan Ltd also noted that all the existing and founding members of the board had resigned one after the other in the face of numerous hiccups and no progress in sight.

The meeting chaired by Finance Adviser Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh was informed that the green book prepared by Dr Ishrat Hussain on the way forward on SOEs had recommended that 324 of total 441 entities should be retained/dealt by the federal government and 117 be transferred to provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK etc.

From another perspective, Dr Hussain’s report also envisaged that only 43 entities could be handled through Sarmaya-i-Pakistan legal framework for privatisation while 14 be handled in consultations with provinces, Islamabad Capital Territory administration and Gilgit-Baltistan.

It was also proposed that 18 companies be considered for liquidation or winding up and 35 others for merger with each other. A group of 17 entities have been named for reorganisations into training institutes while 237 for conversion into federal departments or corporate. The majority view was that all the concerned ministries should be tasked with tight deadlines under regular monitoring on a fortnightly and monthly basis for reorganisation or turnaround with clear way forward. Some ministers also called for more clarity on the tasks, targets and objectives.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2020