CM’s Secretariat: Entry restricted further over security concerns
The Chief Minister’s Secretariat at 7 Club Road have been declared off limits to private visitors and junior officials
LAHORE:
The offices of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat at 7 Club Road have been declared off limits to private visitors and junior officials, with only officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above now allowed in, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The measure was taken for security reasons and follows the assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer by his own Elite Force bodyguard. A senior security official, on condition of anonymity, said that all officials of rank lower than deputy secretary and posted to 7 Club Road, where the chief minister has an office, would be screened again by the Special Branch as a precaution. “It will be inconvenient for official business, but it had to be done for security reasons,” the official said.
According to budget documents, a total of 932 officials, including 115 officers of grades 16 to 20, are posted to the secretariat at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 Club Road and 90 The Mall to help the chief executive of the province conduct government business. Around 100 of these officials work at 7 Club Road. They include a secretary, two additional secretaries, two deputy secretaries, four section officers and lower subordinates and police officials.
The offices at 3, 5, 7 and 8 Club Road are already installed with biometric machines to record attendance and verify identities of secretariat staff. 7 Club Road is an important place for meetings and other official business. Officers would often get their subordinates to bring documents to them there. The posted officials were issued security passes that they were meant to display during office hours.
Parliamentarians of the ruling party also paid frequent visits to the premises along with private men to see the chief minister, secretary and other officials. Now these parliamentarians would not be allowed to bring private people with them.
In September 2008, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat restricted the entry of official vehicles owing to growing security concerns. Only designated vehicles were being allowed to pick and drop dignitaries and officers at 7 Club Road. In April 2009, the entry of all parliamentarians and officers from the main gate of 7 Club Road was banned over security concerns. The gates are now opened only for the chief minister’s entry and exit. All parliamentarians and officers posted to the secretariat used the small gate at 5 Club Road, which includes a walkthrough scanner and has several police guards stationed in both uniform and plain clothes.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2011.
The offices of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat at 7 Club Road have been declared off limits to private visitors and junior officials, with only officers of the rank of deputy secretary and above now allowed in, The Express Tribune has learnt.
The measure was taken for security reasons and follows the assassination of Governor Salmaan Taseer by his own Elite Force bodyguard. A senior security official, on condition of anonymity, said that all officials of rank lower than deputy secretary and posted to 7 Club Road, where the chief minister has an office, would be screened again by the Special Branch as a precaution. “It will be inconvenient for official business, but it had to be done for security reasons,” the official said.
According to budget documents, a total of 932 officials, including 115 officers of grades 16 to 20, are posted to the secretariat at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 8 Club Road and 90 The Mall to help the chief executive of the province conduct government business. Around 100 of these officials work at 7 Club Road. They include a secretary, two additional secretaries, two deputy secretaries, four section officers and lower subordinates and police officials.
The offices at 3, 5, 7 and 8 Club Road are already installed with biometric machines to record attendance and verify identities of secretariat staff. 7 Club Road is an important place for meetings and other official business. Officers would often get their subordinates to bring documents to them there. The posted officials were issued security passes that they were meant to display during office hours.
Parliamentarians of the ruling party also paid frequent visits to the premises along with private men to see the chief minister, secretary and other officials. Now these parliamentarians would not be allowed to bring private people with them.
In September 2008, the Chief Minister’s Secretariat restricted the entry of official vehicles owing to growing security concerns. Only designated vehicles were being allowed to pick and drop dignitaries and officers at 7 Club Road. In April 2009, the entry of all parliamentarians and officers from the main gate of 7 Club Road was banned over security concerns. The gates are now opened only for the chief minister’s entry and exit. All parliamentarians and officers posted to the secretariat used the small gate at 5 Club Road, which includes a walkthrough scanner and has several police guards stationed in both uniform and plain clothes.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2011.