ISLAMABAD: As part of public-sector reforms to reduce the long-term financial burden on the budget, the government is thinking of doing away with the basic pay scales (BPS), beginning with non-gazetted public sector employees, and substituting them with a contract-based workforce.
In order to support the government’s socioeconomic goals rather than deplete the federal budget, another reform proposal proposes to turn all federal public sector medical facilities into semi-commercial medical tourism hubs on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis.
According to Dawn, the Ministry of Finance has spoken with the World Bank and other multilateral lending organizations about these projects and may look to them for financial and technical assistance in putting them into action.
For all upcoming inductions into the civil and military services, the government has already announced pension reforms that would replace the current pension system with contributory pension plans. This is intended to limit the increase in the pension bill, which exceeded Rs1.015 trillion in the current year’s budget and included over Rs220 billion in civil pensions and Rs665 billion in military pensions.
According to sources, most new hires would receive lump sum pay with no long-term fringe benefits like health insurance, but the rights of current officers inducted through the Central Superior Service (CSS) and Provincial Service Commission (PSC) exams would still be safeguarded.
Given that the BPS system had budgetary reflections from many aspects, including pensions, medical coverage, allowances, and so on, such hiring would be subject to removal or exit on a three- to six-month notice basis, depending on key performance indicators. This would help reduce the long-term cash load on the public purse.
According to initial estimates, this would save between Rs. 35 billion and Rs. 40 billion a year if all firms and institutions—aside from federal ministries—shifted to the special package and avoided the BPS system’s inflationary effect.
Hospitals in the public sector
Furthermore, according to sources, several dispensaries and federal government-run hospitals, including the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), Federal Government Employees Hospital or Polyclinic, Capital Development Authority (CDA) Hospital, Sheikh Zayed Hospital in Lahore, and Jinnah Post-Graduate Medical Complex Hospital in Karachi, would be outsourced under public-private partnerships or extendable-term contracts.
Sources claim that CDA Hospital’s outsourcing is already underway.
They claimed that approximately Rs10 billion is spent on these hospitals when that money could be used to give the underprivileged access to healthcare.
For instance, according to an official, Pims alone requires roughly Rs3 billion annually for upkeep, despite the fact that its expansive property could support high-rise structures that could produce resources and draw medical tourists with better medical facilities thanks to support from organizations like the Aga Khan Foundation.
According to an official assessment, only health institutions located in Islamabad have the ability to generate between Rs80 billion and Rs100 billion in less than five years with quality assurance, seamless implementation, and outside help.
