LAHORE: Newly-posted Punjab chief secretary Jawwad Rafique Malik assumed charge of his office here on Saturday.

Soon after assuming charge, Mr Malik called on Chief Minister Usman Buzdar at his office.

Expressing best wishes for Mr Malik, the chief minister said the Punjab government had promoted transparency and merit at every level. He said effective measures had been taken to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, adding the first and last priority of the government was to prevent its spread.

The chief minister said there was a dire need to discharge duties wholeheartedly to redress grievances of the ailing humanity.

He told the chief secretary that instructions had been issued for indiscriminate crackdown on those responsible for artificial price hike and hoarders.

He asked the chief secretary to ensure that people get eatables at controlled rates during Ramazan.

Principle secretary to the chief minister, Iftikhar, Ali was also present on the occasion.

Later, Mr Malik chaired a meeting and received briefing on various issues from Board of Revenue Senior Member Babar Hayat Tarar, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Momin Agha, Specialised Health Secretary Nabeel Awan, Primary Health Secretary retired Capt Muhammad Usman and Industries Secretary retired Capt Zafar Iqbal.

Speaking at the meeting, the chief secretary said resolving people’s problems, improving governance and public service delivery would remain top priorities of the government.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2020