Twelve caretaker GB ministers sworn in

E-Paper | March 16, 2026

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GILGIT: Twelve ministers of a Gilgit-Baltistan caretaker government took oath of their offices at a ceremony held at Governor House on Tuesday, five days after being notified.

Acting Governor and Speaker of GB Assembly Advocate Nazir Ahmed administered the oath to the GB caretaker ministers.

Following are names of caretaker ministers and their portfolios:

Sajid Ali Baig, Minister for Home and Prison; Engineer Altaf Hussain, Minister for Local Government and Rural Development; Ghulam Abbas, Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Information Technology; Retired Col Abrar Ismail, Minister for Finance, Planning and Development; Meher Dad, Minister for Food; Sharafat Din, Minister for Forest, Wildlife and Environment; Maulana Sarwar Shah, Minister for Mineral, Industries, Labour and Commerce; Raja Shehbaz Khan, Minister for Tourism, Excise and Taxation, Communication and Works; Mumtaz Hussain, Minister for Water and Power; Dr Niaz Ali, Minister for Health; Syed Adil Shah, Minister for Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs; and Bahadur Ali, Minister for Education, Law and Prosecution.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by GB Chief Secretary Abrar Ahmed Mirza, former GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, officials and politicians.

Meanwhile, Syeda Fatima assumed the office as Adviser for Social Welfare, Population and Women Development, while Abdul Hakeem as Adviser for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Water Management.

On Friday, five weeks after the appointment of a caretaker chief minister, the Gilgit-Baltistan Council notified a 14-member caretaker cabinet, including two advisers. The appointments were made by PM Shehbaz Sharif in his capacity as head of the GB Council.

The five-year tenure of the GB Assembly ended on Nov 24 and GB caretaker Chief Minister Yar Muhammad was sworn in on Nov 26.

Talking to journalists after the oath-taking ceremony of caretaker ministers, caretaker Information Minister Ghulam Abbas said the priority of the caretaker government is to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the region and it would provide all facilities to the GB election commission in this regard.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2026

Pakistan

Jamil Nagri is a Gilgit-Baltistan-based correspondent for Dawn with over a decade of experience in journalism. His reporting and feature writing focus on CPEC, climate change, the environment, and adventure tourism. He can be found on X at @jamilnagri.

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