LAHORE, Nov 25: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Tuesday authorised all divisional commissioners to direct nazims in the districts under them to carry out any activity in public interest.

The decision came when Chief Secretary Javaid Mehmood is camping in Faisalabad along with 25 administrative secretaries to zoom in on activities of districts in the division for four days.

However, officials did not agree with the idea that the authority for the divisional commissioners was actually an attempt to paralyse nazims.

“The commissioners have been given powers under Article 128-I of the Local Government Ordinance, under which the chief minister or any person authorised by him may direct the nazims to carry out any activity in public interest,” an official said.

He said the commissioners, after assuming the authority, would make nazims address vital issues for public welfare, like supervising campaigns to control dengue fever and exterminate the mosquito causing it.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that secretaries of all the 25 major departments would remain camped in Faisalabad for four days, returning to the Civil Secretariat on Saturday.

The officials also quelled the speculations that the top bureaucrats’ Faisalabad sojourn was aimed at intimidating nazims or district administrations.

“The provincial government (bureaucracy) has gone to Faisalabad to experiment whether enforcement of its policy can be ensured through direct liaison with the middle and lower-ranking implementing machinery (DCOs, DPOs and their staff),” Additional Chief Secretary Javaid Aslam said.

“We are just working out as to how the government policy can be enforced without any fail,” he said, hinting that the chief secretary and the secretaries would alternately camp in other divisions as well in coming days.

During the absence of the administrative secretaries, their additional or special secretaries would man their offices to merely handle day-to-day affairs. Files needing urgent decision would be sent to them directly in the afternoon through a shuttle service being run by the Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD). The files would be returned the next morning.—Intikhab Hanif