In surprise move, Elahi reshuffles Punjab cabinet

Portfolios of bigwigs including Yasmin Rashid and Raja Basharat have been changed

LAHORE:

In a surprise move, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Monday reshuffled his cabinet and changed portfolios of provincial ministers, including bigwigs like Muhammad Raja Basharat and Dr Yasmin Rashid.

According to a notification of the new portfolios, Raja Basharat has been removed from the office of Minister for Public Prosecution and the charge has been given to Brig (retd) Muhammad Musaddiq Abbasi.

Raja Basharat has been assigned the portfolios of Parliamentary Affairs and Environmental Protection.

Similarly, Dr Yasmin Rashid has been removed from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Health and has been appointed as Minister for Specialised Health and Medical Education. The charge of Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department has been given to Akhtar Malik.

Arsalan Khalid has been given the portfolio of Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), the office previously held by Raja Yasir Humayun.

Khurram Virk has been removed from the office of Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs. Most of these ministers were appointed last week, on August 7.

Meanwhile, the Punjab chief minister ordered immediate recruitment of 664 vacant posts for differently-abled persons. He directed the Punjab Special Education Department to send the summary to his office on the same day.

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During a meeting with a delegation of physically-challenged persons called the CM at his office on Monday, Elahi lamented that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) -led government ignored problems of disabled persons. They are children of the nation and the government will solve their problems on priority, he added.

He also announced increasing conveyance allowance for the blind, dumb, deaf and other differently-abled employees in all government institutions of Punjab, up-gradation of posts and recruitment against 664 vacant posts.

He issued directives to resolve their issues without delay and informed them that the provincial government will give Rs10,000 monthly conveyance allowance to differently-abled persons. He also announced upgrading posts for disabled employees in all the provincial government departments and explained that posts for all those who cannot walk or hear would be upgraded.

Principal Secretary to CM Muhammad Khan Bhatti, finance secretary and others were also present in the meeting.