GILGIT: Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan has changed portfolios of two his cabinet members.

According to a notification issued on Tuesday, Mohammad Kazim, the minister for agriculture, has been given an additional portfolio of the food department, while Shamsul Haq Lone, adviser to chief minister on food department, has been made adviser to chief minister on home department.

Mohammad Kazim is a member of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen Pakistan (MWM) from Skardu. The MWM is an allied party of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to official sources, after wheat shortage in GB and protests against shortage of subsidised wheat, Khalid Khurshid Khan offered Minister for Agriculture Mohammad Kazim the additional portfolio of the food department.An MWM parliamentary committee meeting accepted the GB chief minister’s offer. Adviser to Chief Minister on Home Department Shamsul Haq Lone told journalists that the portfolio was given to him on directions of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.

He said maintenance of law and order in the region was his prime duty.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2023