Shah says no plans to trim Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet

The appointment of advisers to G-B council will be taken up with the PM.

GILGIT: Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Mehdi Shah dispelled the impression that G-B cabinet’s rightsizing or reshuffling was on the cards.

“We have got a small cabinet, and it does not require further downsizing,” Shah told The Express Tribune on Sunday.

He said he would also discuss the issue of appointment of advisers in the G-B council with the prime minister as the matter has already been delayed sufficiently.

Asked if the employees serving on contract in various departments in G-B would be sacked as per the directives of the Supreme Court, Shah said that some of them have already been released from their duties while the rest will soon follow suit.

He added that employees serving in corporations and projects do not fall in this category.

Nearly half a dozen employees serving on contract have been sacked this week following the Supreme Court’s decision, while action against the remaining employees is yet to be taken.

Shah also said that degrees of all the government employees would be checked and those guilty of having fake degrees would be sacked.

“I have issued directives to the chief secretary in this connection and the implementation will start soon,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 14^th, 2011.