Against bureaucracy: AJK minister’s protest continues

Finance Secretary Yousuf Khan allegedly opposed Khokhar’s move of renting out a plot to a transport company .

MUZAFFARABAD:

The protest of a member of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly against a ‘lent officer’ has been ongoing for almost a week as the government has failed the resolve the issue.

AJK Transport Minister Tahir Khokhar, who has set up his camp office in the open at the civil secretariat, is protesting against AJK Finance Secretary Yousuf Khan who allegedly opposed his move of renting out a plot to a Lahore-based transport company on a three-year contract.

The secretary is among five senior officers who have been posted in AJK by the federal government and are referred to as ‘lent officers’.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Member Legislative Assembly Dr Najeeb Naqi and former minister Shafiq Jarral met with the minister to express their solidarity with him a few days ago.

Naqi said it was unfortunate that a minister has been protesting for several days and no one was heeding his demands. He demanded that the government settle the issue on a priority basis.

Khokhar, who is also the parliamentary leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement in the AJK assembly, also accused the finance secretary and his staff of attacking him. “The official is sowing a seed of discord and hatred among the people of AJK against Pakistan,” he alleged.

“I have registered an FIR against Khan but it has been withdrawn without my permission. This shows how these federal officers are violating the law here.”

He said if a minister’s FIR was not entertained properly by the police, how can a common man expect justice.

Khokhar has demanded the AJK prime minister to repatriate the finance secretary to the Establishment Division, claiming that lent officers are deliberately trying to cause problems in governance.

He also accused the finance secretary of not releasing funds to other departments on time.

Khan did not respond when contacted for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31^st, 2014.