ISLAMABAD: If all goes as planned, Mohammad Ali Randhawa, a BS-20 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, will become the new city chief soon, as on Tuesday he was transferred from the post of commissioner Lahore and directed to report to the Establishment Division for further posting.

The Ministry of Interior in its requisition summary last week had stated that Mr Randhawa would be posted as the CDA chief or the chief commissioner.

“On request of Interior Ministry, Lahore commissioner Mr Randhawa has been transferred. He has been directed to report to Establishment Division… so as per requisition request of interior ministry, he would be appointed as CDA chief or commissioner Islamabad. But until the issuance of the official notification, you can’t say anything,” said an officer of the federal government.

Meanwhile, despite the news of his expected transfer, CDA Chairman Anwarul Haq on Tuesday made his presence felt as he made a surprise visit to the One

Window Operation (OWO) and expressed his displeasure over pending cases of citizens.

He gave 24-hour ultimatum to concerned officials to clear the backlog otherwise disciplinary action would be taken against them.

Sources in CDA, however, termed the visit a routine official business, saying following the last week’s report of his expected transfer, Mr Haq had lost his interest in CDA and was waiting for his transfer orders.

The source said he had even stopped using CDA’s official vehicles.

Through the OWO, the CDA receives applications from citizens for transfer of houses, plots and obtaining no-objection certificates etc.

After receiving the applications, OWD directorate forwards them to concerned departments including estate wing, land directorate and building control department. Currently, there is a massive pendency, which caught the attention of the CDA chief.

However, CDA officials told the chairman that majority of the requests of the citizens had already been resolved, but in the computer system, the record still showed them unresolved.

To this, the chairman CDA said that whatever the reasons there should not be pendency on computer systems.

“If you have resolved this issue, why the record is not updated?” He also directed them to bring improvement to the OWD working.

The Building Control Directorate was directed to take steps to expand the express service.

Sources said the CDA chief also directed for start of work on the construction of new rooms to expand the express service.

Mr Haq also got a briefing from Member Technology and Digitisation Nauman Khalid about the digitisation process of the CDA record.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2024