ISLAMABAD: A review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has given one week’s time to the finance ministry to chalk out plans to launch golden handshake scheme for employees of the Pakistan Public Works Department (Pak-PWD).

The ministries of finance and housing will assess the financial implications of the ‘Golden Handshake/Voluntary Separation Scheme’ of Pak-PWD and submit the financial proposal within a week.

The committee that will assess the financial implication is being headed by the finance minister and it includes the secretaries of finance, Establishment Division and housing.

The prime minister has also decided that the committee headed by the law minister will prepare a tangible legal action plan including legal instrument and provisions of mandatory separation from the scheme, especially to all officers and staff through the golden handshake scheme.

Other non-technical staff including the maintenance staff will be adjusted in different ministries and executing agencies according to their requirements. The Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) union of the Pak-PWD, meanwhile, has decided to contest the decision of the government in the court of law.

On the other hand, in a letter to the secretaries of housing, finance and interior as well as the CDA chairman, the Prime Minister’s Office has said that the mandate of Pak-PWD for general upkeep such as civil works, electrical and mechanical works and horticulture of the Prime Minister’s Office, Prime Minister House and Prime Minister’s Staff Colony will have to be shifted to the CDA within 15 days.

The shifting of responsibilities also includes any project assigned to the Pak-PWD from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

Moreover, the prime minister has decided that the responsibility of ongoing projects of provincial nature will be handed over to provincial departments concerned within one week.

However, the remaining 78 projects of federal nature will be handed over to the relevant ministries and other executing agencies within one week depending on the nature of the project and capacity of the relevant ministry on a case-to-case basis.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2024