Shehbaz warns ministries over lax governance

PM orders stricter compliance, follow-up on directives

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed serious concerns over negligence in implementing his orders by federal ministries, prompting his office to issue instructions to take the premier's directives more seriously.

The PM's Office issued these instructions to about 41 federal secretaries and heads of departments after one federal ministry was found following a lax approach towards implementing the orders of the head of the government. The official correspondence did not name the ministry but only referred to one incident without describing it that prompted the PM's Office issuing these instructions.

A controversy around the import of betel nuts and the role of the Plant Protection Department in it, which works under Ministry of National Food Security, led to issuance of these instructions by the PM's Office, said a government official. He said that the issue has now been resolved.

The government officials had made unauthorized alterations in betel nuts import regulations.

Reportedly, a notification issued on October 17, 2025, materially differed from a draft that had been approved by the food ministry in September 2025.

There were also issues of mishandling of communications with Indonesia and Uzbekistan, said the officials.

The prime minister has observed with serious concern that the relevant ministry did not exercise the required levels of due diligence and follow-up while processing the PM's directives, according to these instructions.

The premier observed that "this dampened the government's sustained efforts to strengthen governance and ensure prompt, result oriented decision making on important issues of public interest", it added.

The development came on the heels of ignited discussion on the poor governance and the remarks made by the Minister for Interior Senator Mohsin Naqvi that the "government system has collapsed" and that even extended working hours put by the Prime Minister would not change the results.

The official correspondence further said that the incident not only undermined the core objective of the prime minister's directive but it also added to the legal and regulatory complexities around the overall issue.

The PM's office stated that the lapse on part of the particular ministry and its attached department resulted in avoidable delays in implementation of decisions taken by the Prime Minister.

The premier observed that the inter-ministerial coordination needed to implement his decisions in letter and spirit was found lacking, as the entire focus of the concerned ministry was to get assigned tasks completed in terms of process only without giving due consideration towards its intended outcomes.

"The Prime Minister has taken a serious view of the delay, lack of focus on objectives and outcomes of his directives and inadequate follow-up, which was not in keeping with the government's commitment to responsive, transparent and accountable governance," reads the official instructions.

To stop incidents where even the premier's instructions are not implemented in their true spirit, his office has instructed that the policy directions of the prime minister must be implemented in a timely manner with proper due diligence, effective follow-ups and utmost responsibility to achieve the underlying objectives of these policy directives.

The federal secretaries have further been instructed that the ministries must change their approach to get the tasks and directives completed in terms of process only as such an approach results in losing focus on underlying objectives and outcomes of the PM's directions.

"The emphasis should be on achieving objectives in these directions".

The secretaries have also been told that the assigned directives of the head of the government must be carried through to completion so that the issues are resolved in a holistic manner and in the best interest of the public.

They have been asked to ensure proper inter-ministerial consultation to develop consensus for resolution of issues and not for the sake of shifting responsibilities.

There is also a PM delivery unit that tracks implementation on the directives of the prime minister. The premier has recently appointed Musharraf Rasool Cyan, as the head of his delivery unit. Musharraf also represents Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa in the 11th National Finance Commission as technical member.

The PM's office also said that the performance of senior civil servants must reflect initiative and high-quality implementation of policy directions with an objective to contribute towards achieving the desired sectoral outcomes by employing the best skills, experimental knowledge and analytics.

In a separate issue, the prime minister on Thursday constituted an inquiry committee to review the case of premature termination of the contract of the chief executive officer of the Engineering Development Board.

Minister for Climate Change Dr Musadaq Malik is the chairman of the two-member committee Secretary Commerce Jawad Paul as its member. The committee has been instructed to give a report within three days.