Speaking to TFT, former ambassador to the US and former foreign secretary Najamuddin Sheikh said that it seems to be a good effort, but one can reach a categorical conclusion only after a more detailed examination of the data.
He maintained that, for example, what is the saving on salaries based on the present salary being payable to every successor?
He asked, "Have you calculated how much idle time every officer or staff member has? Do not forget that such idle time is also necessary for retaining a measure of efficiency."
"But let me say that all in all, this is a good effort, and every key or large diplomatic post should undertake this exercise," he concluded.
Agreeing with him, Ambassador Alam Brohi, who had served in the Foreign Office for three decades, told TFT that in view of the economic crunch the country is facing, the exercise is good to reduce the burden of expenditure on the government in foreign currency.
"However, the exercise should be all-encompassing and should include the rationalization of the expenditure in foreign currency on foreign visits of cabinet members, including the PM, and the reduction of other avoidable expenses incurred abroad," he said.
Ambassador Brohi believes we can close down certain embassies in Africa and South America instead of cutting the resources of revenue-earning missions in the Middle East, Europe, and North America.
A source privy to this development confirmed to TFT that the said work in this regard has been done in consultation with the incumbent as well as former officers and staff who had remained posted in different establishments in Jeddah.
He maintained that the government of Pakistan has followed three setups in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (KSA), including the Consulate General of Pakistan, Pakistan’s Hajj Mission, and the Office of the Permanent Representative to the OIC.
Sources from the foreign office maintained that the exercise suggesting rationalization measures has been carried out on three major aspects, including officers, staff, and logistics in each setup.
"The calculations have been made on general estimations leading to likely savings amounting to SR 5.90 million (Pak Rs. 413 million)," a senior official said.
Plan for the consulate general of Pakistan in Jeddah
A senior official told TFT that the Consulate General’s primary activities are focused on the welfare of the Pakistani community in the Western KSA, including manpower-related litigation, jail matters, residency law violation detainees, hospitalization & death cases, employer-employee conflicts, etc.
"All these subjects are the responsibility of the Welfare Wing, which is an extension of the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis," he pointed out.
He maintained that the Consulate General has no diplomatic functions, however, conventionally, it has been headed by and dominated by Foreign Service officers.
The other wings at the Consulate General include commercial, media, groups A and B, audit and accounts, MRP, and NADRA.
"A detailed work plan for the rationalization of each wing of the Consulate General, along with proposed savings, is as follows," he stated.
Welfare Wing
A senior official said that in view of the manpower-related workload, the officer and staff strength of the Welfare Wing has increased over the past few years to three officers and 13 staff members.
"The current officer and staff strength is at the optimal level to carry out its functions, and no addition or reduction of manpower is recommended," he said.
Commercial Wing
Sources maintained that the second important component of the Consulate General is the Commercial Wing, which looks after the trade and investment activities and business interests of Pakistan in KSA.
"It comprises two officers and one staff. For better performance, a couple of staff members are required in this wing to optimize its performance," he noted.
Sources maintained that the said shortage can be easily fulfilled by the relocation of staff from other wings with relatively surplus staff.
Diplomatic Wing
Sources privy to this development told TFT that the Diplomatic Wing has grown over a period of time and currently comprises five officers and 59 staff members.
"Although the Consulate General has no diplomatic functions as the same is the exclusive domain of the Pakistan Embassy at Riyadh, their strength has grown disproportionally as compared to the actual workload requirement over a period of time," they said.
Barring two officers (CG and HoC), the remaining three officers of the Diplomatic Wing have no defined work or charter of duties; rather, they have carved out certain assignments from Welfare Wing, MRP Section, and NADRA to designate two officers as Consul, Consul Affairs, and Consul, Counsel Services. Moreover, another consul has been designated as Dy. Consul General who has practically no work, which has been proved by the fact that an officer on this post remained absent from duty for about five months in 2022 with no effect on official business.
Interestingly, sources said, all the consular duties (attestations, power of attorney, etc.) in the Consulate General are presently being performed by the two officers of the Accounts Wing along with their own assignments of accounts, while the diplomatic officers are performing a part of the Welfare Wing, MRP, and NADRA functions.
"This clearly exhibits overstaffing," a senior official said.
Moreover, with the upcoming online issuance of power of attorney and other consular services and the likely reduction in the volume of attestations due to the Apostille Convention, the present workload is likely to reduce further.
"As such, three officers of the Diplomatic Wing and one officer of the Accounts Wing have no workload, especially after an increase in the strength of Welfare Wing officers, fully strengthened and functional MRP and NADRA offices, and online consular services," sources said.
They believe that, correspondingly, at least 10 staff members attached to them will also become redundant.
Moreover, sources from the Pakistan Consulate General in KSA told TFT there are three interpreters and three protocol staff with interchangeable duties that can be performed comfortably by two individuals.
"The Protocol staff is most of the time deputed with private guests and visitors to accompany them to Makkah Mukarramah and Madinah Munawwarah for Umrah and Ziarah," they noted.
It is important to mention that the visiting official guests are catered for by the Saudi government with logistics and support staff, and no assistance is required for them from the Consulate General.
Recommendation to remove staff from diplomatic and accounts wing
Sources said that in view of the above, a withdrawal of four officers (three from the Diplomatic Wing and one from the Accounts Wing) and 13 staff members is recommended, leading to the following savings from government expenditures:
Sources maintained that the MRP section has two officers and 12 staff members.
Although the number of daily visitors for PP issuance and renewal has decreased by almost half during the last five years due to the repatriation of a large number of families, with the issuance of a 10-year PP and the online PP facility, their strength has instead increased.
Moreover, the MRP section has a non-optimal working model with separate counters for biometrics, photographs, data capture, and form issuance and processing, resulting in a larger manpower requirement.
On the other hand, for similar processes, NADRA has an optimal working model with one-window operations for biometrics, photographs, data capture, and form issuance and processing, leading to a lean and smart setup. If the MRP also opts for the NADRA model, it can relieve at least three staff members, which will have the following savings for the government:
Other Wings
The senior official said that the other wings of the Consulate General, including Media, Group-A, and Group-B, are working with the bare minimum of officers and staff of 4–5 individuals, while NADRA has seven personnel, which is their basic minimum operational requirement. These wings don’t require any modification in their strength for the time being.
Logistics
There are a total of 15 vehicles at the disposal of the Consulate General.
The Media, Commercial, Group-A, and Group-B Wings have one vehicle each at their strength, while the Welfare Wing has two vehicles.
However, the Diplomatic Wing has nine vehicles on its strength, which is disproportionate to their actual working requirements.
Consul General using three more cars than entitlement
Among these nine Diplomatic Wing vehicles, four (Mercedes, BMW, Toyota Land Cruiser, and Chevrolet Suburban) are at the personal disposal of the Consul General, against his entitlement of one car, a senior official told TFT.
He maintained that these four vehicles are for his personal use, mostly catering to his family and private guests, and are parked at his residence.
"The remaining five vehicles of the Diplomatic Wing, including one Coaster, are generally used for official duties as well as for private guests or visitors of the Diplomatic Wing officers," a senior official further said.
Sources maintained that for all practical purposes, only three vehicles are required by the Diplomatic Wing: one for the Consul General, one for administrative duties, and one for miscellaneous duties during official visits.
It may be noted that the logistics of all the visiting VVIPs and VIPs are fully catered for by the Saudi government very liberally.
Moreover, if any additional vehicle is required for the visiting delegates, which rarely occurs, the same can be arranged through rental companies at a much more economical rate.
In view of the above, sources said six vehicles can be easily spared, and correspondingly, six drivers also become surplus.
"It may be noted that the average fuel and maintenance expenditure of each vehicle is around SR 1,150 per month and SR 1,450 per month, respectively, while each driver’s salary or allowance amounts to SR 5,000," they stated.
An abstract of the likely savings from vehicle operation and maintenance and driver expenses is as follows:
Pakistan's Hajj Mission
Sources maintained that the Pakistan Hajj Mission in Jeddah caters to the procurement of services for Hajj every year for Pakistani pilgrims, including accommodation, food, transport, and other miscellaneous services.
It is important to mention that the activities of the Hajj Mission are spread over a period of only about five months, including the procurement process and the Hajj itself.
Sources said that for the remaining seven months, they will have no major functions or activities.
"The procurement for Hajj is made by a committee comprising two officers from the Hajj Mission and another two from the Consulate," he said.
During the actual Hajj operation, a large contingent comes from Pakistan to oversee and supervise the Hajj.
The senior official said that the Hajj Mission at Jeddah comprises five officers and 29 staff members based at Jeddah, Makkah Mukarramah, and Madinah Munawwarah.
"Apparently, two officers and five staff members are surplus as they are redundant for the whole of the year except during the two-month Hajj operation, which is mainly managed by the Muawineen contingent from Pakistan," sources said.
Therefore, they maintained three officers and 24 staff members who could very conveniently carry out their routine work at the Hajj Mission.
Correspondingly, two vehicles and two drivers can also be spared to reduce government expenditures.
Govt has decided to reduce official Hajj quota to 50pc
A source privy to this development told TFT that the government has already decided to reduce the official Hajj quota to 50% of the total allocated pilgrims from Pakistan.
"Keeping in view the models adopted by certain countries, including Malaysia, Turkey, Indonesia, etc., the government may consider shifting the whole of the Hajj operation to the private sector and abolition of Hajj Mission, thus leading to a major saving of SR 6 million (Rs. 425 million) for the government," they maintained.
However, until the said decision, they said the immediate savings from the reduction of two officers, five staff, and two drivers, along with two vehicles, will be as follows:
Office of the Permanent Representative (PR) to OIC
Sources said that the Office of the PR to the OIC comprises three officers (one lent from the Consulate General) and six staff members.
The PR was until a few months ago based in the Consulate General’s building, however, they rented out a separate office @ SR 280,000 per annum.
It is important to mention that the PRs of all the other countries are mainly based within their own existing consulates, while many others don’t have a separate PR and their work is looked after as an additional assignment either by their ambassadors or CGs.
Moreover, sources said that the Consulate General is working on the concept of co-location of multiple offices, including the Welfare Wing, Commercial Wing, Group-A, Group-B, MRP, and NADRA, which have separate line ministries or departments, with the purpose of optimizing the office space, manpower, communication, utilities, and other allied facilities.
"The decision to rent separate premises by the Office of PR to the OIC goes against the said concept of co-location, leading to additional expenditure that can easily be avoided," they suggested.
For them, the assignment of PR has a low activity profile and can be easily taken care of by two officers.
As such, the third officer posted in the PR office is spare for all practical purposes.
Moreover, the PR office does not require separate premises, and the Consulate’s building can easily accommodate them. Co-location in the Consulate’s building also saves on rent and additional expenditures on cyber/communication services and accounts staff, besides expenses on utilities. This will also spare two staff members from work.
Residential rent paid to PR to OIC
Moreover, they maintained that the residential rent being paid to PR by the OIC, a BPS-20 officer, is SR 300,000 per annum. On the other hand, there are three other BPS-20 officers at Jeddah (two in the Consulate and one in the Hajj Mission) whose rental ceilings are SR 140,000 per annum and SR 200,000 per annum, respectively.
A market survey of the properties in Jeddah's posh localities for very good accommodation shows that a rental ceiling of SR 180,000 per annum is quite reasonable for a BS-20 officer.
In view of the above, the savings from one surplus officer and two staff, the relocation of the office of PR to the Consulate General, and the downward revision of the residential ceiling of PR will be as follows:
Sources maintained that in view of the above working if the recommendations are implemented, the government is likely to save foreign exchange of SR 5.90 m (Pak Rs 413 m) from the three government establishments at Jeddah, KSA, with the following breakup:
Sources from MoFA said that the above work has been done in consultation with different incumbent and former officers who have remained posted in these setups.
It is suggested that a comprehensive exercise in light of the above parameters be carried out in all the major Pakistani missions across the globe. Similarly, a review of small missions is also required to decide their retention, as reportedly there are around 50–55 missions with less than 10 professional or diplomatic correspondences per year.
It is further suggested that a committee under the PM’s Inspection Commission or Establishment Division be formed to make a comprehensive study to review and rationalize the foreign missions' strength, allowances, and logistics.
Sources said that the current exercise is exclusively done by MoFA and is not likely to yield any result as the same is cosmetic and window dressing with no serious effort of rationalization.