Taking charge: Seven ministers allotted portfolios

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak allotted seven cabinet members with ministries on Wednesday. In an official handout issued from the directorate of information, the portfolio of Excise and Taxation was given to Mian Jamsheduddin, Irrigation to Mehmood Khan, Minerals to Ziaullah Afridi, Agriculture to Ikramullah Khan Gandapur, Higher Education to Mushtaq Ghani and Food to Qalandar Khan Lodhi. Moreover, Minister for Health Shahram Khan Tarakai has been given the additional charge of Science and Technology and Information Technology. Lodhi, Jamsheduddin, Gandapur, Ghani and Qalandar were recently made ministers in the provincial cabinet but had not been assigned portfolios. The Ministry of Industries is lying vacant at the moment after Shaukat Yousafzai was sacked from the cabinet following charges of poor performance. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance also lacks a dedicated minister after newly-appointed Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq said he would be relinquishing the post.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2014.