The government has hired Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) for Third Party Validation of the country’s power sector as Prime Minister Imran Khan is unhappy with the performance of sector, sources close to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Establishment, Shahzad Arbab, told this correspondent.
“As per the direction of SAPM on Establishment, it has been decided that a Third Part Validation Technical Advisory to assess and improve verification process of target status of Performance Agreements (PAs) will commence from February 1, 2022 by Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC),” the sources added.
Secretary Power Division has been requested to meet the Advisory Team personally and accordingly nominate a senior officer as a focal person for smooth conduct of the exercise.
On November 22, 2021, SAPM on Establishment wrote a letter to Minister for Energy, Hammad Azhar appreciating Power Division for undertaking the first review of the Performance Agreements FY 2021-2023.
Review sessions for each Ministry were personally held by me, together with the Peer Review Committee (PRC) comprising Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, and senior representatives of Division of Cabinet, Establishment, Finance and Planning,” said Shahzad Arbab in his letter to the Minister for Energy.
SAPM on Establishment said quarterly reviews are not only to take stock of progress against the agreed targets between the Prime Minister and the Ministry, but they will also be an opportunity for Ministries to identify delays being caused due to dependences on other Ministries. The PRC facilitates Ministries in resolving their dependencies for speedy implementation of the Performance Agreements.
According to him, Prime Minister has seen the quarterly performance of all Ministries/ Division and expressed his concern at over the low completion rate by Power Division; and directed that the Secretary Power be informed that he will personally review the six months’ performance and urged that performance needs to be improved significantly.
He maintained that average completion of all Ministries is 62 per cent whereas Ministry of Energy (Power Division) has achieved 58 per cent against its committed targets.
The Prime Minister has further directed the following: (i) Third Party audit of Ministries completed targets;(ii) making the ranking of Ministries public from the next quarter;(iii) impact assessment of the initiatives to be conducted at the end of FY 2021; and (iv) award of performance bonus to high performing Ministries.
