LAHORE: Punjab colonies minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, who was unceremoniously relieved of additional charge of information and culture on Monday, was compensated here on Tuesday with yet another additional portfolio — the prisons department.

Immediately after assuming the prisons department charge, the firebrand minister sought details of the facilities being provided to Shehbaz Sharif, leader of Opposition in National Assembly, and his son Hamza, holding the same portfolio in the Punjab Assembly, who are in jail.

Thanking Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar for reposing their trust in him, Chohan pledged to end, what he called, “VIP culture” in Punjab prisons.

“All prisoners will get equal treatment, without exceptions. Facilities in provincial prisons would be improved for all inmates, but no one will get any preferential treatment,” the minister made it clear.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2020