Deadline passes, PM's hunt for economic secretaries still on

Express Tribune

18 hours ago

The federal government has not yet found suitable federal secretaries from the private sector to run the key economic ministries, as the deadline given by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to shortlist the potential candidates has also lapsed.
The sources privy to the internal discussions said that a committee has met with a few candidates from the private sector to hire them for running the energy divisions.
The premier also chaired a meeting in the fourth week of the last month for the head hunting of Principal Accounting Officers (PAOs) who will act as secretaries in addition to finalizing the profiles of the candidates for hiring technical experts in these ministries.
After the last month meeting, the prime minister had directed the Establishment Division "to complete the process of shortlisting the panels of PAOs" within three weeks, said the sources. He had also asked to share the profiles of the candidates of the remaining technical positions to the ministries.
The deadline has lapsed but so far there is no formal progress on the matter, said the sources.
Minister for Economic Affairs and Establishment Ahad Khan Cheema did not respond to a question whether the list of the shortlisted candidates had been shared with the prime minister.
Last month, the government published a media advertisement seeking private sector professionals for top civil service roles, which also sparked concern among some federal ministers and bureaucrats about the potential impact on governance and institutional integrity.
Under the Rules of Business of 1973, the federal secretaries are the administrative heads of the respective divisions and are responsible for smoothly running the business of the government. However, there have also been concerns that the government's work has been slowed down because of the bureaucratic inefficiencies and there was a need to bring fresh experienced blood from the private sector.
But the sources said that the committee constituted to choose the candidates could not find suitable persons during its interactions. The government has engaged a foreign consultancy firm, which is charging it a handsome fee, for the headhunting purposes.
The prime minister had also constituted the committee for recruiting the best workforce, aligning ministries with modern systems, and improving governance through reforms.
The sources said that the majority of these candidates have good professional backgrounds but they lacked knowledge and knowhow of the policy formulation and functions of the concerned ministries. Some of these potential candidates also had concerns about the continuity of their roles in case of change of the political dispensation, the sources added.
The advertisement, posted at the Establishment Division website, did not name the divisions, qualification criteria and the job descriptions. However, it suggested that the government is set to hire seven federal secretaries from the private sector to run the economy-related ministries.
These are the Finance Division, Petroleum Division, Power Division, Planning Division, Industries and Production Division, National Food Security Division and Vocational Education and Training. These divisions are currently headed by officers from the all-powerful Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS).
The federal government had a couple of years back given 140% executive allowance to the bureaucrats on the grounds that the officers from provinces were not ready to work in the center due to better pay packages being offered by the federating units.
Another committee to improve the efficiency of the government is also working under Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. The committee also met on Tuesday and focused discussions on advancing a governance model that is transparent, merit-based, and technologically driven, with clear and objective performance assessment criteria, according to a statement by the Deputy PM office.
The goal is to establish a system that is results-oriented, accountable, and responsive to public needs, it added. Ishaq Dar stressed the importance of institutional efficiency, evaluation mechanisms, and delivery of tangible outcomes to enhance public service delivery.
The sources said that in addition to finalizing the potential candidates, the premier was also once again instructed to review investment portfolios and identify a good number of high profile and strategic projects for investment.
The government had engaged the foreign consultancy firm At Kearney to finalize the projects for investment by the Gulf nations.