• Non-obligatory foreign visits, public-funded medical treatment abroad suspended
• All govt posts vacant for three years will be abolished

ISLAMABAD: The government on Friday issued a notification imposing a ban on unnecessary expenditures while also deciding to offer a severance package to public sector employees rendered surplus due to the ongoing restructuring of federal ministries and their attached departments.

In the notification, the Ministry of Finance notified a set of austerity measures, many of which are already in place. The notification said that “there shall be a complete ban” on expenditures like the purchase of vehicles, except operational vehicles such as ambulances, firefighting vehicles, buses and vans for educational institutions, solid waste vehicles and motorbikes.

There will also be a ban on the procurement of machinery and equipment, except for hospitals, laboratories, agriculture, mining and schools. The ban will also apply to the creation of new posts, including contingent paid and temporary posts, and to the continuation of existing contingent and temporary staff.

Government-funded medical treatment abroad and non-essential foreign visits have also been suspended.

In addition, “all posts lying vacant for last three years shall be abolished”, the notification said, adding that these restrictions would not apply to the purchase of durable goods and the creation of posts under projects funded by the Public Sector Development Programme.

The federal cabinet approved these austerity measures on Aug 27. Official documents provided to various ministries noted that the cabinet also decided to abolish or declare 60 per cent (150,000) of vacant regular posts as defunct while outsourcing non-core services such as cleaning, plumbing and gardening to reduce costs for Grade 1-16 employees.

The cabinet also decided that “all contingency posts to be eliminated” and directed the finance ministry to ensure “live visibility on the cash balances of all government entities”.

The cabinet has also decided to amend the Civil Servants Act, 1973, to insert a new definition in Section 2(1h) for “severance package” to mean that financial compensation duly notified by the finance division would be offered to the surplus staff.

A new section, 11-C, will be inserted into the Act, stating that any decision to abolish, restructure or reorganise a division, department or office will be made by the federal government after evaluating its functional effectiveness.

Additionally, under Subsection 2 of 11-C, “the federal government shall offer, to the concerned civil servants, a severance package balancing the rights of the civil servants and obligations of the federal government”.

Under Subsection 3 of 11-C, “a civil servant may file a representation, within seven days, before a committee constituted by the prime minister. The committee shall decide the representation within 30 days. In case a civil servant does not accept the severance package, his/her services shall be liable to be terminated”.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024