Provincial bureaucrats face another reshuffle

Officials become frequent targets of performance reviews during PM's visits

LAHORE:

More than 2,500 officials of police and the provincial administration have been transferred in Punjab during the past two and a half years.

With the declared aim of improving governance, the performance of ministers is reportedly reviewed whenever Prime Minister Imran Khan visits Lahore, but the outcome of the deliberations comes in the form of transfer of bureaucrats.

All commissioners, deputy commissioners, RPOs and DPOs across the province have been transferred during the period.

The secretaries and their subordinates in all departments have also been transferred.

So far, four chief secretaries and five IGs of Punjab Police have been transferred under the current government.

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In the latest round, the commissioners of Lahore and Sargodha, secretaries of school education and primary health and other officers were transferred.

According to a notification, Punjab Primary Healthcare Secretary Captain (retd) Muhammad Usman has been posted as the Lahore Commissioner to replace Zulfiqar Ghuman who has been posted as Commissioner of Gujranwala. Schools Secretary Sara Aslam has been transferred and posted as Primary and Secondary Healthcare Secretary. Ghulam Farid has been posted as Schools Secretary. Roy Manzoor Nasir, the DG of Katchi Abadis, has been transferred and posted as COO of TEVTA.

Sargodha Commissioner Farah Masood has been transferred and appointed as the Special Education Secretary. She has replaced Syed Javed Iqbal Bukhari who has been posted as Secretary for Zakat and Ushr. Sargodha Deputy Commissioner Naila Baqir has been given the additional charge of commissioner.

Sources say that top bureaucrats in Punjab have faced the highest number of reshuffles in recent years.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2021.