Appointments made, funds allocated for South Punjab secretariat

LAHORE: Punjab government on Tuesday finalized a consultation process on appointments in the South Punjab secretariat and appointed Secretary Irrigation Zahid Akhtar Zaman as an additional chief secretary of the secretariat, ARY NEWS reported.

Inam Ghani was appointed as the Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) South Punjab. The Punjab government also approved recruitments of 385 more people to address administrative issues in the secretariat.

The South Punjab Secretariat would have 18 departments, having a special secretary and two additional secretaries for each of them.

The departments to be established in the secretariat included planning and development, health, irrigation, energy, local bodies, finance, agriculture, and education.

All administrative issues pertaining to Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan would be resolved in the secretariat.

The Punjab government further said that it has proposed purchasing of new vehicles for the officials performing duties at the secretariat while a fund of Rs 1.5 billion was also earmarked for the expenses at the secretariat.

Read More: South Punjab Secretariat to become functional from July: FM Qureshi

It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on June 13 called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Lahore to discuss the latest developments about south Punjab civil secretariat.

During the meeting, CM Usman Buzdar apprised the foreign minister that the south Punjab secretariat will be made operational soon and added that an additional chief secretary and Additional Inspector General (AIG) of police will be appointed in Multan and Bahawalpur.

The chief minister said that he had approved the creation of various posts including an additional chief secretary (ACS) and additional Inspector General (AIG) of police to make the secretariat functional.