ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Wednesday expre­ssed concern over delays in the implementation of its decision, and seven ministries were found delinquent, with the Ministry of Industries and Production on top of the list.

The special meeting of the ECC on the implementation status of its decisions also found the Ministry of Finance could not comply with the May 27 directive.

It was embarrassing for the ministry working directly under Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who heads the cabinet forum as its chairman and presided over the meeting.

The special meeting was called on the request of Cabinet Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, who previously worked as secretary of finance and had repeatedly alerted the finance minister that ministries and government agencies were either not implementing ECC decisions or not filing compliance reports despite reminders to the Cabinet Division as required by rules.

As chairman, Mr Aurangzeb called a special meeting on a report of the Cabinet Division to review why the ministries were sitting on ECC decisions and to expedite implementation.

Cabinet sources said the meeting was told that the ECC had decided on May 27 and June 13, while making amendments to the pension scheme, that the Ministry of Finance should present a Pay & Pension Committee report. The decision remained unimplemented so far, and the meeting was told that it would take more time due to the detailed consultations required with many stakeholders.

The Cabinet Division reported that the ECC made 133 decisions in its 18 meetings — 115 had been implemented, while 18 others were still pending. Of the 18 shortfalls, 11 decisions that could not realised were classified as policy decisions, while seven others were miscellaneous.

The ministries that could not fully comply with ECC decisions included finance, interior, industries and production, inter-provincial coordination, housing and works, food security and research, power, and national health services regulation and coordination. It was noted that four out of seven unimplemented policy decisions pertained to the Ministry of Industries and Production led by Rana Tanveer Hussain.

Mr Rana’s ministry explained that one of the policy decisions could not be materialised because it was subsequently remodelled or modified. For example, an ECC meeting on April 4 decided to review the subsidy pattern to Utility Stores Corporation but a subsequent meeting of the rightsizing committee of the cabinet decided on August 16 to wound up the USC and consider cash transfers to the vulnerable recipients of subsidy.

Another meeting of the rightsizing committee on August 27 also decided to privatise or wind up the USC and the industries ministry was asked to present an alternate plan for cash transfers to the deserving. It was reported that the pthe rime minister had called a meeting on the subject over the next few days to decide the fate of USC and the subsidy mechanism for the future.

An official statement said the special meeting of the ECC was attended by Minister for Industries and Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik, federal secretaries and senior officers from the ministries and departments concerned.

It said the meeting reviewed the implementation status of various earlier policy decisions of the ECC concerning matters based on a briefing followed by separate presentations by the relevant ministries on the current status of the pending issues and the steps taken and required to get a closure on them.

“The ECC noted with concern the delays in the implementation of its decisions and directed the concerned ministries to improve their coordination and work with stakeholder ministries and divisions proactively through a proper escalation mechanism to ensure a timely compliance and completion of the tasks and responsibilities assigned to them for implementation of the ECC’s decisions,” the statement concluded.

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2024