PM forms task force on K-P, FATA merger

Two of the task forces to be headed by Dr Ishar Hussain, third by Shehzad Arbab

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has set up three different task forces respectively for civil service reforms, restructuring of the government, and identification of impediments and facilitation of tribal areas merger with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

The PM’s Adviser on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain will head the task forces on civil service reforms and restructuring of the government.

Adviser to the PM on Establishment Shehzad Arbab will lead 11-member body aimed to facilitate the process of proposed merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Provincially Administered Tribal Areas (Pata) with the K-P. The merger related task force also has two representatives of the army.



Some eight members of the19-member task force on civil service reforms are from the private sector including three former bureaucrats, while the rest 11 from the government side. The chief secretaries of all the four provinces and one representative each of finance, planning, establishment and cabinet divisions are also part of this task force.

Experts from the private sectors include Shahid Kardar (Beacon House National University vice-chancellor), Dr Sania Nishtar, Suleiman Ghani (former bureaucrat), Dr Nadeemul Haq (Planning Commission former deputy chairman), Salman Raja advocate, Ali Cheema (LUMS), Umair Javed (LUMS), and Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi (former federal secretary).

The task force will prepare a comprehensive blueprint to transform country’s civil services by ensuring tenure protection and an accountability mechanism to improve credibility in order to attract and retain the best talent in the country.

The 18-member task force on austerity and restructuring of the government has 10 members from the government and eight from private sector.

These include Salman Siddiq and Wajid Rana (both former finance secretaries), Ijaz Nabi (IGC country director), Roshaneh Zafar (Kashf Foundation managing director), Tariq Khosa (former federal secretary), Burhan Rasool (Punjab IT Board GM) Asad Ali Shah (Ernst & Young former managing partner), Taslim Aslam (former foreign secretary).



The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) former chairman Abdullah Yousaf and FBR member Rana Ahmad are also its part. It also comprises one representative each from finance, establishment and cabinet division, and chief/additional secretaries of all four provinces.

Headed by Shehzad Arbab, the third task force has the K-P governor and chief minister as its members. Other members include Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri, Senator Hidayatullah Khan, State and Frontier Regions (Safron) federal secretary, the K-P chief secretary and Fata additional chief secretary.

One representative each of the Military Operations (MO) Directorate, the general headquarters (GHQ), and 11 Corps (Peshawar) will also be part of the third task force.

It will devise an integration timeline and develop comprehensive plan for proposed integration. It will also formulate mega development plan for Fata already committed by the federal government.