MULTAN: Fifteen provincial secretaries and cane commissioner arrived in three districts of Bahawalpur division on Thursday in connection with the provincial cabinet meeting in Bahawalpur being held on Saturday.

According to a notification issued on Dec 26 by Chief Secretary Yousaf Naseem Khokhar, provincial secretaries have been deployed in the division prior to chief minister’s visit and cabinet meeting.

They will remain in the districts from Dec 27 to Dec 29.

“Officers will monitor ongoing major projects/new initiatives of the government, in general, and the initiative related to their own departments, in specific, including sugarcane crushing, and present a brief/comprehensive report to the chief minister on Dec 29,” the notification stated.

Provincial secretaries for school education, specialised healthcare and medical education, housing, urban development and public health engineering department, industries and livestock and dairy development have arrived in Bahawalnagar district.

Secretaries for food, agriculture, local government and community development, primary and secondary healthcare department and energy have been deployed in Bahawalpur district while secretaries for irrigation, excise, human rights, sports and Auqaf will remain in Rahim Yar Khan. Cane commissioner has also been directed to reach Rahim Yar Khan.

For the first time, such a large number of provincial bureaucracy has been directed to stay in one of the three divisions of south Punjab exclusively to discuss the issues of the division.

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2018