PM Office sends ‘red letter’ to 27 ministries for ‘critical delay’ in task completion

ISLAMABAD: The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has issued a ‘red letter’ to 27 ministries/divisions for a “critical delay” in completion of tasks which were assigned under the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The red letter, which is considered to be a final warning and expression of displeasure, was issued to the secretaries for 27 federal ministries/divisions out of a total of 34 ministries, it emerged on Thursday.

The red letter directed the concerned ministries/divisions to complete the impending tasks by September 9 and submit a compliance report on the matter to the prime minister.

As per the red letter, the details of the following tasks were sought from a ministry under a deadline of 30 days w.e.f 02-08-2019:

• Provision of the list of positions lying vacant at all levels for framing or update of recruitment rules
• Provision of the list of positions lying vacant at all levels that could be re-designated, rationalised or deleted
• Provision of the list of officers/officials (all type of ex-cadres) eligible for promotion not being promoted due to various reasons
• Timely disposal of all disciplinary proceedings initiated against government employees that are lying pending for more than three months
• Provision of data on a prescribed format regarding record/files to be archived, machinery, vehicles, equipment to be condemned and disposed-off as per the approved procedure.

The letter noted that initially, a ‘yellow letter’ was issued to the ministry on August 17, noting that half of the time for completion of the tasks had elapsed.

“Despite the above-stated situation, the task got critically delayed and [is] now lying overdue at your end,” the letter stipulated, adding that no further extension would be granted to the ministry.