ISLAMABAD: A monitoring committee to implement the measures under the austerity campaign announced by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif during the financial crisis should submit recommendations to the Prime Minister for the return of official vehicles used by the heads of parliamentary committees. will including public accounts and standing committees, JEE News reported on Tuesday.
In its meeting, the committee also directed the cabinet division to issue a notification of the measures approved by the federal cabinet, but no such notification was issued.
A federal minister present in the huddle also suggested that the meetings of the Senate and National Assembly Standing Committees be held online through Zoom as it costs a lot of money to hold the theme in person.
After a detailed discussion, it was decided that the recommendations would be submitted to the Prime Minister for his approval.
The federal minister said that the expenses incurred on various heads/chairpersons of the standing committees should also be withdrawn.
An official statement issued by the Ministry of Finance said that Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired the first meeting of the committee to monitor the implementation of austerity measures in the Finance Division.
Federal Minister for Education and Vocational Training Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for National Food Security and Research Tariq Bashir Cheema, Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazir Tarar, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister in the meeting. Finance Tariq Bajwa, Federal Secretaries and senior officers attended.
In the meeting, the implementation of the decisions of the cabinet regarding austerity was reviewed. Finance Secretary gave a presentation. It was informed that the Ministries/Divisions are already working on these measures and instructions have been issued for immediate compliance and reporting of any waiver and violation of the decisions.
The committee directed all principal accounting officers to implement a 15 percent cut in their current budget. It was decided that the use of teleconferencing for all meetings should be encouraged to save time and costs.
The committee informed that there will be no concession under any circumstances on the decision of cabinet members and government officials to withdraw the use of luxury vehicles.
Highlighting the difficult economic situation of the country, the Finance Minister urged all concerned to ensure the implementation of austerity measures with sincerity and dedication in their ranks without any concessions.
