PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Tehreek Insaf-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has changed the information minister third time since its formation last year.

In a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, the information portfolio was taken away from Shah Farman and was given to higher education minister Mushtaq Ghani as additional assignment.

A notification will be issued in this respect shortly.

The government has cited no reason for the reshuffle.

Shah Farman, who held the information portfolio as additional responsibility, will continue to be the public health engineering minister. He was asked to oversee the information ministry after Shaukat Yousafzai was relieved of the office in August last year.

Mushtaq Ghani, who had joined PTI after winning election as an independent candidate, was adviser to the chief minister before becoming the higher education minister.

Shah Farman was often not available to the media on matters related to the provincial government. When the PTI formed the provincial government almost a year ago, Shaukat Yousafzai became the information minister.

Shaukat Yousafzai, once the editor of a local newspaper, also held the additional portfolio of health. However, amid the emergence of a pressure group in the party, PTI reshuffled the cabinet ministers and inducted some advisers and ministers in the cabinet.

Shaukat Yousafzai, who held the health portfolio, was removed along with adviser to the chief minister Yaseen Khan in May this year. Poor performance of the two was cited as a reason for it.

Shaukat Yousafzai was first deprived of the information portfolio and then that of health. He was given the industries portfolio but within the next two weeks, it too was withdrawn removing him from the cabinet.

Published in Dawn, July 10th , 2014