PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Monday cancelled the recent appointment of the excise and taxation secretary purportedly on the orders of the ruling PTI’s top leadership.

The establishment department had issued a notification on Sept 27 making Mohammad Abid Majeed, a BPS-20 Provincial Civil Service officer, the secretary to the excise and taxation department.

The notification was withdrawn even before Mr Majeed took charge of his office. This is his second removal in less than a month as he was transferred as the health secretary on Sept 7 and was made an OSD (officer on special duty).

On Monday, the establishment department issued a notification, saying: “in partial modification of an earlier notification dated Sept 27, the competent authority is pleased to withdraw posting of Mohammad Abid Majeed as secretary excise and taxation department KP.”

It however didn’t cite any reason for the move.

Sources claim PM ordered Abid Majeed’s removal for being opposed to reforms

Sources told Dawn that the withdrawal of Mr Majeed’s posting order came purportedly after Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed displeasure at it.

The prime minister had visited the provincial capital on Friday a day after the bureaucratic reshuffle in the province, including the posting of Mr Majeed as the excise secretary.

Mr Imran, who met provincial cabinet members at the Chief Minister’s House, reportedly ordered the cancelation of the posting after being informed about it saying Mr Majeed was anti-reforms and should not be given charge of a department.

Sources said the officer’s problems began during his stint as the health secretary as he apparently earned the ire of US-based Pakistani physician and KP’s health czar Nausherwan Burki following the Supreme Court’s orders to dissolve the provincial medical teaching institutions’ board of governors in June over poor performance and to hold several inquiries into the alleged irregularities in promotions, appointments and development work at those institutes.

Mr Burki had told Dawn in August that soon after forming government in the province, the PTI would replace the health department’s top bureaucracy.

“We would get new bureaucracy that can help us to implement our vision. Our previous experience with bureaucracy wasn’t good due to which we need people, who can facilitate our reform process,” Mr Burki had said.

He is the architect of the medical teaching Institution system’s reforms in the province.

Sources said Mr Burki was not happy with the officer over the Supreme Court’s decision to dissolve the MTI board of governors as the health department under Mr Majeed had presented a report in the court on its order about the working of the MTI institutions.

Source said Mr Burki was angry at the move and therefore, Mr Majeed fell out with the current PTI government.

Mr Majeed, an officer of PCS cadre, who had earlier served as the information secretary, is said to have the reputation of delivering on his assignments. He is understood to have spearheaded most of the PTI’s health related reforms in the province during his two years stint in the health department, including on its flagship Sehat Sahulat Programme, which the ruling party intends to replicate in other parts of the country, merit-based appointment of thousands of doctors, provision of health professional allowance to doctors and other staff, service structure for nurses and lady health workers.

He had also held additional charge of the elementary and secondary education department for a couple of months.

Secretary of the establishment department Arshad Majeed and spokesperson for the provincial government Shaukat Yousafzai did not respond to this correspondent’s repeated calls and texts on their respective cellphone numbers.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018