PESHAWAR: Caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Syed Arshad Hussain Shah on Tuesday directed all the ministers and administrative secretaries to carry out field visits to monitor activities related to their respective departments and sectors.

He issued these directives while chairing a meeting, which he hurriedly convened soon after his surprise visit to Lady Reading Hospital and Faqirabad area of Peshawar, according to a statement.

During his visit to Faqirabad, the chief minister expressed dissatisfaction over poor condition of canals and directed the relevant minister and secretary to personally monitor maintenance of canals.

He expressed concerns over poor maintenance of Faqirabad canal and ordered an inquiry into it. He said that any negligence or mismanagement to that effect would not be tolerated.

Orders inquiry into poor maintenance of Faqirabad canal

“I will also review the performance of provincial departments by visiting the field regularly,” he remarked and said that all the administrative secretaries should fix such issues beforehand. If any negligence or deficiency was found during his visit, the relevant administrative secretary would be responsible for it, he added.

He said that quality of work in maintenance and development of canals should be ensured in all respects.

He said that inefficiency or corrupt practice on the part of any official would not be tolerated under any circumstances.

He added that CCTV cameras should be installed at offices of irrigation department.

The chief minister also directed the quarters concerned to immediately initiate work on digitisation of irrigation department. He ordered the officials of irrigation department to work out a comprehensive de-silting plan for canals across the province and make effective arrangements to dispose of waste at suitable place in a timely manner during the de-silting of canals to avoid environmental pollution.

During his visit to LRH, the chief minister met with patients and enquired after their health. He also met with the attendants of patients and inquired about the treatment facilities in the hospital.

He was accompanied by caretaker provincial ministers Engineer Ahmed Jan, Engineer Amir Nadeem Durrani, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Peshawar Commissioner Mohammad Zubair and CCPO Syed Ashfaq Anwar.

The chief minister visited different sections of the hospital and listened to the complaints of attendants of patients.

He directed the hospital administration to immediately redress their complaints.

He directed the hospital management to ensure uninterrupted availability of medicines and said that all available resources should be utilised for better treatment of patients.

Published in Dawn, November 22nd, 2023