ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: The government has authorized all the ministries, attached departments and autonomous organizations to procure independently all the required material, machinery and equipment with immediate effect.

Official sources have told Dawn that a decision to this effect was taken early this month.

A notification to wind up the Karachi-based central supplies department, working under the ministry of industries and production, has been issued.

Accordingly, around 275 officials of the supplies department have been sent to the surplus pool of the establishment division.

Apart from reports of corruption and mismanagement in the procurement of goods and material required for the federal and provincial government departments and autonomous organization, lengthy procedures are being cited by the sources as reasons for winding up the supplies department.

The supplies department had been responsible for the purchase and procurement of all the goods and material required by any government departments, including Pakistan Steel Mills, the Rangers and the Survey of Pakistan, for decades.

The officials of the ministry of industries have told Dawn that Pakistan Steel Mills was allowed, of late, to procure its goods, machinery and material at its own and that its annual procurement has now crossed Rs10 billion mark.

On the other hand, the total procurement by the supplies departments at present was of around one billion rupees, the officials say, indicating that the department had lost its utility.

The officials expect that the decision will significantly reduce the time required for the procurement of the needed material and goods.