Civil service: Four in the running for chief secretary

Nasir Khosa expected to leave to join Asian Development Bank.

LAHORE:

Four officers are in the running to replace Nasir Mehmood Khosa as chief secretary, including Khosa’s predecessor as the head of the provincial bureaucracy, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Khosa was offered the job of executive director of the Asian Development Bank six months ago but put it on hold at the chief minister’s request, said a senior official privy to the development. “He is now exhausted by the job of running the administrative affairs of the province and wants to join the bank in January,” said the official.

Jalal Sikandar Sultan Raja, secretary of the Services and General Administration Department, said he did not know if Khosa was leaving as chief secretary to join the ADB.

Khosa was appointed chief secretary in place of Javed Mehmood, who had been made an officer on special duty (OSD) after his official car was involved in an accident in which a retired colonel was killed. He had served as chief secretary from March 2008 to February 2010.

Mehmood, a District Management Group (DMG) officer in BS-22, was an OSD for about 15 months and then repatriated to the federal government, which made him secretary of the Planning Commission. But Mehmood is unhappy with the posting and is on three-month leave, said an official.

He met with Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif last week and expressed a desire to return as chief secretary, said the official. “Some senior officials in the province have even started holding meetings with Mehmood as they expect him to be posted as chief secretary,” he said.

He said that Mehmood would likely press his former classmate Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to secure the posting in his favour, as the appointment of the chief secretary is a federal government decision. The official added that many PML-Nawaz parliamentarians would be unhappy at his return as he rarely accommodated their requests during his previous tenure.

Sami Saeed, senior member of the Board of Revenue, is also seen as a serious contender for the position. Promoted to BS-22 in October 2010, he has served as additional chief secretary and is known to be very close to the Sharifs.

Like Mehmood, ruling party lawmakers do not consider him to be an ‘accommodating’ officer.

Javed Aslam, chairman of the Planning and Development Board, is also in the running, said officials. He is considered a competent bureaucrat and has a good reputation among subordinates, peers and seniors, as well as the trust of the chief minister. Promoted to BS-22 in October 2010, he has served at key slots including additional chief secretary, excise and taxation secretary and higher education secretary. The sources said that Khosa was in favour of Aslam’s posting as chief secretary.

Asked if he was interested in becoming chief secretary, Aslam said he had no knowledge of any developments in this regards and had not expressed a desire for the position.

Home Secretary Shahid Khan is also lobbying for the post, said officials. He has a reputation as a strict officer who plays by the book and is thus not popular among lawmakers and subordinates, said a senior official.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 30^th, 2011.