Additional secretary appointed for IT ministry

Second highest bureaucratic slot in the MoIT&T filled.

KARACHI: The Establishment Division has appointed Amir Tariq Zaman Khan as Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom (MoIT&T); he is also likely to be given the additional charge of IT secretary – a position currently vacant – The Express Tribune has learned.

Khan was appointed additional secretary over the weekend; two sources familiar with the matter said. A notification has already been issued in this regard, the sources added.

After the federal secretary, this is the highest bureaucratic position in the MoIT&T – just above the joint secretary; sources said. In the absence of a full secretary, Khan may be given the additional charge of IT secretary as well, sources said. The position of IT secretary had been vacant since February, after the departure of Saeed Ahmed Khan – former Secretary MoIT&T.

Farooq Ahmed Awan had earlier been appointed acting IT Secretary; but he, too, was transferred to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority as its chairman last week.

Khan, a Grade-21 officer, has served as joint secretary in the Corporate Sector Wing of the Ministry of Industries and Production.

Secretary, Punjab Local Government, Khizar Hayat Gondal, and Secretary, Board of Investment, Anjum Bashir, according to sources, are among those under consideration for the slot of IT secretary.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2012.