Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Khan Jatoi is quite confident about the prospects of ministers' growing powers under the leadership of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. A Business Recorder report was quoted him as saying that the Prime Minister in his maiden meeting of the federal cabinet had asked cabinet members to take decisions regarding their own ministries as he has delegated the power to them. The procedure of sending summaries to the Prime Minister Secretariat via Cabinet Division must be expedited.

"If Ministers are given the power to deal with issues in their ministries at their level, they will also be responsible for delivering," the report quoted Jatoi as saying.

Expanding the size of the federal government by the new prime minister makes little or no sense. He is asking the ministries to deliver in less than 10 months, something that they had to do in over four years. Increasing powers of ministers may not lead to improved governance but this step could give birth to more opportunities for complacency and corruption.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017