Administrative control: Nisar expresses ‘desire’ to take up reins of CDA

Proposal floated to place civic agency under interior ministry’s control.

ISLAMABAD: The newly-installed Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is weighing the merits and demerits of a proposal to place the Capital Development Authority (CDA) back under the administrative control of Interior Ministry.

During a meeting with high ups of the interior ministry and officials of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan expressed his “desire” to take control of the CDA, ICT officials said.

The CDA used to be under the control of the same ministry during the tenure of former president Pervez Musharraf.



“If the plan is approved, the CDA chairman will also be given additional charge of Islamabad chief commissioner,” said a senior interior ministry official.

“So far, it is just Khan’s desire.

The final decision will be taken by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, as he directly controls the affairs of the Cabinet Division,” said one of the CDA board members.

In the past, senior ICT Administration officials always showed lackluster response to the CDA when it came to joint efforts for the retrieval of state land from land grabbers and other matters of joint interest.

“Currently, the ICT Administration is under the administrative control of the Interior Ministry, while the CDA is under the control of the Cabinet Division. The core objective of the proposal is to put both the departments under a single ministry for better coordination between the civic bodies,” the official added.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2013.