PESHAWAR, Jan 18: NWFP Chief Secretary Ejaz Ahmad Qureshi has directed all the administrative secretaries to submit reports regarding their foreign trips, an official source said.

His directive circulated to all the secretaries of the provincial departments on Dec 23, last year, says the foreign visits of government functionaries have always been for some specific purpose, and it is expected from the visitors to learn from these tours.

It says that all the secretaries who have been on such tours abroad are required to submit a report indicating as to how far these trips are useful for their respective departments and the province.

The chief secretary has sought a detailed report in this connection. The official said that some provincial secretaries had gone on foreign trips recently, but they failed to submit reports to the chief secretary regarding the importance of their trips. The chief secretary, the official said, had desired that the detailed reports by the respective secretaries should be submitted at his office immediately.

The official also said that some of the secretaries, who undertake the foreign tours, had not been useful for their department concerned. They argued that most of the secretaries of various department were being transferred and posted after every six months, and thus the experience they gained from the foreign trips went down the drain.

For instance, the official said, recently Secretary Health Dr Ihsanul Haq had gone to Singapore to attend some health-related events there. He said Dr Ihsan, being a career DMG officer, was not supposed to stay in the health department for ever.

The source said that such trips were meant for the officials permanently posted in any department, because they could utilise their experiences for the betterment of their department.

Even ministers and their private secretaries and political stalwarts were availing such opportunities of the foreign trips which were exclusively meant for the permanent officials to build their capacity and utilise their experiences for the betterment of the functioning of the department in future.

The official said that under the law, those who go on foreign tours, should submit a progress report to the heads of their respective departments to be sent to the chief secretaries.