Cabinet gives go-ahead to reforms in govt functioning The cabinet on Tuesday consented to the decisions taken on March 31 by the cabinet committee on institutional reforms about the rationalisation of manpower running the federal government machinery. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain presented the recommendations of the committee regarding the volume of the federal government in terms of employees, working mechanism, manpower in different ministries and departments and their rationalisation. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, at a press conference following the cabinet meeting, said the total expenditure of the federal government was Rs175 billion in 2010. But, despite the 18th Constitution Amendment under which many ministries and institutions were devolved to the provinces, the total expense of the federal government rose to Rs500 billion between 2015 to 2017, thanks to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government, he added.