LAHORE: The Punjab government has abolished nine posts of deputy secretaries (BS-18) in the south Punjab Secretariat, the latest in a series of administrative changes that critics say continue to erode the autonomy of the institution established to decentralise governance and bring decision making closer to the people of the region.

According to a notification issued by the Punjab Finance Department on July 22, the abolished posts include two deputy secretary positions each in the local government & community development and finance departments, four in the services & general administration department (S&GAD), and one in the law & parliamentary affairs department.

The notification states that the posts have been abolished with immediate effect during the current financial year 2026-27.

The latest move follows a series of restructuring measures initiated by the provincial government over the past two years.

Move being seen an attempt to centralise administrative control

In May 2024, the government created 10 posts of special secretaries for south Punjab while simultaneously reducing the number of autonomous departments in the secretariat.

South Punjab secretariat officials on condition of anonymity told Dawn that the changes would effectively render the south Punjab Secretariat toothless by shifting authority back to Lahore.

Two years ago, the Punjab government assigned eight Lahore-based provincial secretaries the additional charge of their respective south Punjab departments, a decision widely viewed as further centralising administrative control and diminishing the independent role of the Multan- and Bahawalpur-based secretariat.

Earlier, in October 2023, the provincial government also withdrew the special relocation

allowance that had been introduced to encourage senior officers to serve in the south Punjab Secretariat, a move that officials said had affected morale and reduced the attractiveness of postings in the region.

The south Punjab Secretariat was established by the PTI government in 2020 with headquarters in Multan and Bahawalpur as part of a broader plan to decentralise governance and enable residents of Multan, Bahawalpur and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions to access key administrative services locally instead of travelling to Lahore.

It was presented as the first institutional step towards greater administrative autonomy for the region.

With the abolition of another nine deputy secretary posts, critics argue that the institution continues to lose its administrative capacity, making the prospect of meaningful devolution of powers to south Punjab increasingly remote.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026