ISLAMABAD: On Monday, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the federal minister of finance and revenue, issued a directive to all parties involved urging them to implement the austerity measures as quickly as possible and without any exceptions.
According to a news release from the Finance Ministry, the minister was presiding over the second meeting of the Monitoring Committee to oversee the application of austerity measures. Rana Tanveer Hussain, the federal minister for federal education and professional training, Azam Nazeer Tarar, the federal minister for law and justice, Qamar Zaman Kaira, the PM’s advisor on Kashmir affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan, Tariq Bajwa, Tariq Mehmood Pasha, and federal secretaries and senior officers were among those present at the meeting.
The meeting reviewed the implementation of the decisions of its first meeting on the implementation of austerity measures. The committee was informed that the implementation of austerity measures had already been started by the respective ministries/divisions. It was updated on the status of the use of luxury vehicles and was apprised that the majority of the allocated vehicles had been returned by the cabinet members.
The committee expressed concerns about the non-return of the remaining luxury vehicles and directed the Cabinet Division for strict implementation of the decision and to get back the luxury vehicles within three days. It also deliberated on the withdrawal of the use of security vehicles and decided to implement the decision in its letter and spirit.
The meeting expressed serious concerns about the use of SUV/Sedan Cars above 1800 cc by some officers and directed all the authorities to immediately stop the use of all such vehicles by government officials.
The Ministry of Law and Justice was entrusted with the task to approach the superior judiciary suggesting the implementation of austerity measures in the judiciary and approach the Senate chairman and National Assembly speaker regarding the use of teleconferences for all meetings to save time and expenditure. The committee was also informed that the IPC Ministry had already approached the provincial governments suggesting the implementation of similar austerity measures in their respective provinces.
The meeting also discussed the working timings and decided that the new timing for office work would be 7.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. and upto 12.30 p.m. on Friday starting from the first of Ramazan and would be followed in the summer season as per the Federal Cabinet’s decision. A notification would be issued accordingly.
