Govt calls Dr Kaiser Bengali’s claims a misunderstanding

ISLAMABAD: A day after the resignation of country’s leading economist, Dr Kaiser Bengali, from official committees over “biased” rightsizing, the government on Sunday said the former’s decision apparently stemmed from a communication gap or misunderstanding.

“Not only positions from grades 1 to 16 but all government positions from grades 1 to 22 are being right-sized,” a government spokesperson told Geo News on Sunday. He said that scores of high-ranking officials would also be put on the chopping block.

“The rightsizing committee has reviewed six ministries so far, in the first phase. Dissolution of one ministry has been approved, while two others will be merged.”

In this context, at least two officers of BPS-22 and several others from BPS-17 to BPS-21 may be terminated as their positions would become redundant, the spokesperson said, describing the economist’s claim as a misunderstanding. The official remarked that approximately 60,000 positions could become surplus, including posts from grades 17 to 22. He said: “The rightsizing committee respects Bengali’s opinion, however, it appears to be based on a lack of information.” The official asserted that in this regard the committee was comprehensively and impartially reviewing the autonomous and government organisations.

The spokesperson said the federal cabinet was highlighting various aspects of the recommendations approved by the rightsizing committee. He said the government was working on a compulsory retirement package with necessary amendments to the Civil Servants Act, of 1973, as well. “This package can be applied to all civil servants without any favour or preference.” Bengali on Saturday stepped down from three government committees formed to cut expenditures and carry out institutional rightsizing, warning that the economy “is on a ventilator due to [mounting] debts and on the path to destruction”. He accused the government of targeting employees in grades 1 to 16 while sparing officials of higher grades in its rightsizing drive. Bengali sent his resignation to Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb and Cabinet Division Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal. He was a member of key bodies for austerity, rightsizing and expenditure reduction committees formed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN)-led coalition government to deal with the economic crisis after it returned to power after the 2024 general elections.