LAHORE: Initiating realignment of bureaucracy, the new PML-N government in the Centre has withdrawn all top officials of the Punjab Chief Minister’s Secretariat, including the principal secretary to CM.

The federal government transferred principal secretary to chief minister Muhammad Aamir Jan and directed him to report to the Establishment Division with immediate effect.

It also transferred chief minister’s implementation secretary Socrat Aman Rana and personal staff officer to CM Haider Ali, directing them to report to the Establishment Division with immediate effect and until further orders.

Similarly, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Additional Secretary Nabeel Ahmad Awan was also transferred. Mr Awan’s services have been placed at the disposal of Punjab government.

Parvez reinstates four Punjab Assembly employees suspended by deputy speaker

Sources say Mr Awan is expected to be posted as principal secretary to the chief minister.

They say the PML-N led government has begun discussions on the selection of its bureaucratic team and is identifying officers to post them against important slots in the province.

Earlier, the outgoing PTI government had plans to post Tahir Khurshid as Punjab chief secretary and Fayyaz Dev as inspector general of police, respectively. However, the PML-N-led federal government did not entertain a request made in this regard by acting chief minister Usman Buzdar.

REINSTATED: Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Parvez Elahi has said Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari exceeded his authority while suspending assembly secretariat’s four employees, adding the orders has been declared null and void and the officers reinstated.

In a statement here on Monday, Mr Elahi said all the deputy speaker’s powers assigned to him, had come to an end as soon as the April 16 session ended.

According to the court orders, he said, the deputy speaker had the authority only for conducting the election of the chief minister as far as administrative matters were concerned.

He said the deputy speaker was not assigned any disciplinary powers, therefore his orders for suspension of Punjab Assembly officers “had no legal status”.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022