Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday directed all the quarters concerned to expedite the implementation of austerity measures with sincerity and without any exception.
The minister was chairing the second meeting of the Monitoring Committee to oversee the implementation of austerity measures, according to a Finance Ministry news release.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Rana Tanveer Hussain; Federal Minister for Law & Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar; Advisor to the PM on Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit- Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira; Special Assistant to the PM (SAPM) on Finance Tariq Bajwa; SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha; federal secretaries and senior officers.
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.