A day after the resignation of Dr. Kaiser Bengali, one of the country’s leading economists, from government committees over what he described as “biased” rightsizing, the government clarified on Sunday that his decision likely stemmed from a communication gap or misunderstanding.
A government spokesperson told Geo News that the ongoing rightsizing initiative applies to all government positions, from grades 1 to 22, and not just the lower grades as alleged by Bengali. The spokesperson emphasized that numerous high-ranking officials would also be affected by the cuts.
The spokesperson detailed that the rightsizing committee has reviewed six ministries so far in its first phase. The dissolution of one ministry has been approved, while two others are set to merge. As part of this process, at least two officers of BPS-22 and several others from BPS-17 to BPS-21 could lose their jobs due to the redundancy of their positions. The spokesperson described Bengali’s concerns as a misunderstanding, clarifying that the committee is impartially assessing both autonomous and government organizations.
Bengali resigned from three key government committees, which were formed to reduce expenditures and implement rightsizing, warning that the economy is on a “ventilator” due to mounting debts and is heading towards destruction. He accused the government of disproportionately targeting employees in grades 1 to 16 while sparing higher-ranking officials in its efforts to reduce costs.
In response, the government stated that the rightsizing committee respects Bengali’s opinion but believes it is based on incomplete information. The federal cabinet has been reviewing various aspects of the recommendations made by the committee, which include potentially making around 60,000 positions surplus.
The government is also working on a compulsory retirement package with necessary amendments to the Civil Servants Act of 1973, which could apply to all civil servants without any bias.
Bengali, who had been a member of important bodies focused on austerity, rightsizing, and expenditure reduction, resigned at a time when the government is seeking to address the economic crisis through austerity measures, rightsizing, privatization of loss-making state-owned entities, and another bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In his resignation, Bengali praised the government’s initial efforts to reduce spending but criticized its recent decisions, claiming that high-ranking officials are being protected while junior employees are being targeted. He argued that removing high-ranking officers could save the government Rs30 billion annually and expressed concerns that the economy is on a destructive path due to increasing debt burdens.
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