At a meeting of federal cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, the Cabinet directed the authorities concerned that the entire transition process should be completed within two weeks.

The cabinet approved that an Asset and Facility Management Company will be established to continue maintenance and repair works assigned previously to the Pak PWD while its staff will be transferred to respective ministries after grading and implementation of Golden Handshake Scheme.

It was decided that all property records of the Pak-PWD will be computerized.

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As per the approved plan, the new proposed company will be established to supervise federal development projects while all provincial development projects under supervision of the Federal Government will be handed over to the relevant provincial institutions.

The cabinet was briefed about progress made by the committee chaired by finance minister to reduce the size of government.

The meeting was informed that basic information is being obtained for right-sizing of essential institutions and closure of unnecessary subsidiary institutions of different ministries including Information Technology, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, States and Frontier Regions, Industries and Production and National Health Services.

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This process will be completed till Friday and based on the information, the committee will formulate proposals in consultation with the ministries concerned and submit them to the cabinet by the first week of next month, it was told.

Similarly, from Friday next, recommendations will be made to close or merge other institutions after getting information from other federal ministries.

The cabinet also approved a one-year extension of Proof Of Registration (POR) cards for 1.45 million Afghan refugees legally residing in the country and whose POR cards expired last month. The extension in the POR cards has been granted till 30th June next year.

In addition, the meeting allowed the Election Commission of Pakistan to establish its provincial headquarters at the Federal Lodge-II Peshawar.

The cabinet approved the termination of the status of Bahawalpur Medical College from 19th April 2024 due to non-compliance with the requirements of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council. Students studying in this institution will be transferred to other medical colleges in the country.