PESHAWAR, March 24: The nine-member cabinet, comprising mostly retired officers, of the caretaker government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was sworn in here on Sunday.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Engineer Shaukatullah administered oath to the cabinet members. Mussarat Qadeem, a former teacher of University of Peshawar, is the only woman member of the caretaker cabinet.

Nowshera and Mardan got lion’s share in the caretaker setup as both the districts have three and two members in the cabinet respectively.

Caretaker Chief Minister Justice (retired) Tariq Pervez Khan, who was also present at the oath taking ceremony, told journalists that more ministers would be inducted in the cabinet within the next few days.

He said that their portfolios would be announced later. The cabinet members would get departments commensurate with their expertise. He said that caretaker government’s top most priority was to conduct free and fair elections in the province.

The caretaker provincial ministers include Fayaz Khan Toru, Abdul Rauf Khattak, Samin Jan Babar, Gen (retired) Farrukh Sair, Jehangir Khan Tareen, Mussarat Qadeem, Advocate Umer Farooq, Mohammad Ishaq Khattak and Mohammad Younas Marwat.Fayaz Toru, who belongs to Mardan, has served as police chief and secretary of home and tribal affairs in the province. He retired in October 2011.

Abdur Rauf Khattak, a former DMG officer from Pabbi, Nowshera district, served as secretary local government, commissioner Hazara and Kohat. He is a writer and has several books to his credit.

Advocate Umar Farooq is the youngest minister in the caretaker cabinet. He belongs to Bannu district, the hometown of former leader of opposition in the provincial assembly Akram Khan Durrani. He is a lawyer by profession and comes from an influential family.

Mohammad Ishaq Khattak, an engineer by profession, is a resident of Nowshera district and served as managing director of Pakistan Industrial Corporation. He also worked as consultant of projects abroad.

Jehangir Khan Tareen, a resident of Haripur district, is a retired government servant. He has worked as Commissioner Afghan Refugees, joint secretary Kashmir affairs and served on various posts in Prime Minister’s Secretariat.

Mohammad Younas Marwat, born in 1944, is engineer by profession and belongs to Lakki Marwat. He has served in Wapda, member of provincial public service commission and on other important positions in the province.

Mussarat Qadeem was teacher of political science in University of Peshawar. She was running a non-governmental organisation before becoming a member of the caretaker setup.

Sameen Jan Babar, a former senior bureaucrat, also belongs to Nowshera district. He has served as chief secretary, home secretary, commissioner Peshawar, head of Fata Development Corporation and federal secretary.

Gen (retired) Dr Farrukh Sair belongs to Mardan. He has served as deputy surgeon general in Pakistan Army besides remaining director academic and admission at Khyber Medical University and chief executive officer of the Combined Military Hospital Bahawalpur and district headquarters hospital Gilgit.