PESHAWAR: The cookie has crumbled sooner than expected. A little over seven months after Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Mahtab Ahmad Khan sent an upright officer packing, the Sardar from Bakote moved again to send another officer packing, citing “irreconcilable differences”, officials in the Civil Secretariat said.

An official notification said that Mohammad Azam Khan, the additional chief secretary Fata, has been posted out to make way for Aslam Kamboh, an officer hitherto serving in Punjab to head the Fata Secretariat.

Azam, an officer of unblemished record, who had served as political agent of South Waziristan, political agent of Kurram, commissioner of Peshawar and home secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, had replaced another upright officer, Arbab Mohammad Arif, who officials say, had requested to be posted out after finding it difficult to pull along with the incumbent governor.

Mr Azam Khan has been asked to report to the KP’s establishment department. Sources in the Fata Secretariat said that Mr Khan relinquished his charge immediately.

Mr Khan was not available for comment and messages and calls on his cellular phone remained unanswered.

Speculations have been doing the rounds in bureaucratic circles about Khan’s impending departure from Fata Secretariat for over two months following differences over a host of issues concerning new initiatives in the tribal border land, sources in the secretariat said.

The first bump, these sources said, occurred over the introduction of National Testing Service for recruitment in Fata. “That was the beginning of the slide in the relationship,” a senior government official in the Civil The cookie has crumbled sooner than expected Secretariat said, requesting he not be named.

Things began to spiral out of control over delay in the announcement of mineral policy, postings and transfers and certain other policy matters. “It was evidently clear that the two could no longer work along,” the official said.

According to documents available with Dawn, to his credit, Mr. Khan has left behind several initiatives directly benefiting people of Fata like recruitment through NTS, scholarship enhancement for students worth Rs800 million benefiting 80,000 students from primary to professional college level, internship in departments for students in all Annual Development Programme schemes.

He also introduced free treatment of cancer patients, provision for prosthetic limbs for the handicapped and bomb blast injured, involving community in forestry and reclamation of agricultural barren lands, Grievance Redressal System, Complaint Cell, timeline to political agents for basic services delivery.

Some reform proposals like giving voice to people of Fata by setting up FM radio channels, health and education service delivery monitoring unit, file-tracking system, vehicle and manpower data computerisation were also underway.

For the first time monthly scholarships of Rs.800 (6th,7th, 8th) and Rs12,00 for 9th and 10th grade school girls were approved.

For the first time nurses were to get Rs1,000 and midwives Rs3,500 per month as a special incentive to perform better in Fata. Pregnant women were to be given Ensure Supplement to ensure they visit the health facility.

Another initiative to engage youth of Fata required each department to allocate funds for internship programme in each ADP scheme so that youth from Fata could not only be trained, get financial incentive but also in a way monitor development schemes meant for their own areas.

Farmers in Fata with small piece of agricultural barren land were given opportunity to cultivate their land, show a video proof of it and claim expenses which could be paid on smart card to them thus minimising the role of government official, eliminating red-tapeism and chances of corruption.

A community forestry scheme was devised to ensure that the community, which would nurture a sapling, would be getting financial benefits year after year. This project with inbuilt checks and balances mechanism was to counter the previous trend of planting trees only in files and not on the ground.

A massive interest-free youth loan scheme, attractive incentive for teachers, health workers in Fata, health insurance for all were also in the pipeline but it all seems a dream now. One wonders if these special initiatives in which so much thought and energy, was invested would continue as a policy or fizzle out as the new boss takes over.

On the security side, the now-former additional chief secretary had introduced colour-coded maps to facilitate gradual transition from military to civil control as well as developed a who-is-who data of criminals in the tribal region.

Days before bowing out of his office, Mr Khan had inaugurated Fata Analysis and Strategy Team (Fast) to monitor and analyse security situation in the tribal region.

As one senior official put it, the outgoing additional chief secretary had left behind enough initiatives for the incoming officer and his political boss to crow about.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2015

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