LAHORE:
The Punjab government has allocated Rs259.836 million to meet the current expenditures of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat for the upcoming financial year, a reduction from the allocation of Rs266.419 million for the year ending June 30. The budget for the CM’s Secretariat for 2011-12 was later revised to Rs389.619 million.
The government also allocated Rs77.17 million for the Governor’s Secretariat, Rs95.431 million for Governor’s House and Rs14.367 million for the personal expenditure of Governor Sardar Latif Khosa.
According to the CM’s Secretariat budget, the number of employees posted to the secretariat has been reduced from 933 to 624. The number of posts for officers, ranging from BS-16 to special scales, has been curtailed from 111 to 89. There are four special scale slots, including one for a chief photographer (a post created this year). There is also one BS-21 principal secretary and two BS-20 secretaries at the secretariat.
The government also allocated Rs145.716 million to meet the expenditure of the provincial cabinet. There are 59 cabinet members, including five advisors, 16 ministers, 35 parliamentary secretaries and special assistants and two special assistants, as well as the chief minister himself.
A total of Rs50.414 million has been allocated to the Chief Minister’s Inspection Team (CMIT). The funds will pay the salaries of 111 CMIT employees, including 24 officers. One post of chief sanitary inspector in BS-21 has been created in the team.
The budget includes Rs134.871 million to pay the salaries of the 283 employees of the provincial ombudsman in the upcoming financial year. The office previously had 232 employees. The ombudsman himself is on a special scale.
A total of Rs76.653 million has been allocated to the VIP Flight Maintenance and Operation Cell, which arranges the chief minister’s air travel. It has 44 employees of which 22 are officers, including one chief pilot and three co-pilots. Another Rs81.694 million was allocated to the aviation flight cell, which operates an M-17 helicopter for the chief minister’s travel. The cell has 42 employees of whom seven are officers, including two pilots.
The government allocated Rs29.89 million to the office of the Director General for Protocol for the upcoming financial year. The office has 78 employees including 11 officers.
Governor
A total of Rs186.968 million has been allocated to the meet the expenses of Governor’s House, the Governor’s Secretariat and the governor’s personal spending in 2012-13. The government allocated 95.431 million to Governor’s House, which was allocated Rs80.966 million in 2011-12. The Governor’s Secretariat has 182 employees including 24 officers and is headed by a principal secretary in BS-21. Governor’s House has 264 employees and it is headed by a military secretary. Twenty-two of these employees are officers.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 10th, 2012.
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