LAHORE, Dec 12: President Gen Pervez Musharraf has asked the provincial governments to make the district Nazims all powerful, and ensure that all those who matter must remain available to them all the time, sources said here on Wednesday.

According to them the president has given the direction in a letter sent to all the provincial governors last week.

They said the letter began with the president’s remarks that his assessment after meetings with the Nazims in recent days, was that the bureaucracy did not want to surrender the powers which had been given to the Nazims under the new local government system.

They said the main theme of the two-page letter was that the president wanted the district Nazims to be all powerful, clearly indicating that all officials in their governments must be treated as their subordinates.

Sources said the letter specifically mentioned the words DCO, district police officers and all other officers whom he wanted to be seen as helping hands (subordinates) for the Nazims.

One of the several directions the president gave was that notwithstanding the DCOs declared role as the principal accounts officers, all the documents relating to the financial affairs should be signed by the Nazims, they said.

Sources said the president has directed that all officers in the district governments must get approval of their respective Nazims while transferring and posting officials under them.

Another direction was that the provincial government must give weight to the opinion of the Nazims in matters of transferring and posting all main officers in their districts, they said.

Sources said the president desired that the governor, all administrative secretaries and the IGP and their staff must remain available to Nazims all the time.

They said the letter had been distributed among all the quarters concerned for compliance, conveying them the desire of the president to make the new system a success through the Nazims whom he wanted to give all powers.