RAWALPINDI: Tomorrow, November 27, will be a Red Letter Day in the history of Pakistan, when the Central Government will start moving for the first time to its permanent Secretariat in Islamabad, the new capital of Pakistan.

The move will continue till January 10, 1967. By that time, some eleven divisions of the Central Government will occupy four new Secretariat blocks in Islamabad. The office accommodation vacated in Rawalpindi will be occupied by the Planning Division and some other offices moving from Karachi at the end of January 1967.

The first to move to Islamabad is the Ministry of Commerce.

Some 2,000 officials will move to the new capital during the present phase of shifting. They will occupy newly built residential quarters, allotments of which have already been made in their names.

Arrangements have been made for the supply of consumer goods at reasonable rates.

Adequate number of schools already exist in Islamabad. There will be no difficulty in seeking admission for the incoming students. However, three new primary schools (Urdu, Bengali and English) and one model secondary school will be opened shortly to meet the growing need of the residents of the new capital.

Already about 4,000 Government officials have been residing in Islamabad with their families. The present population of Islamabad is about 35,000. With the completion of the present phase of shifting, the population will be about 50,000.

[Meanwhile, as reported by agencies from Baghdad,] the Iraqi Government has decided to mobilise its land and air forces to aid any Arab country attacked by Israel, the weekly “Al-Nasr” said here today [Nov 26].

The decision was taken at a meeting of Government and armed forces officials in Baghdad on Nov 23, presided over by President Abdul Rahman Arif.

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2016