PESHAWAR, Aug 17: The NWFP government has transferred two top officers of the finance department within a week. According to a notification issued here on Thursday evening, Aurangzeb Haq, a grade 20 officer from the district management group, has been directed to report to the establishment and administration department. Earlier, Ziaur Rehman, an officer of grade 21 from the provincial civil services, had been transferred from the post of finance secretary.

Mr Zia has been replaced by Abdul Khaliq Awan, who belongs to the audit and accounts group. He was serving as a secretary for industries before this assignment.

Zainullah Khan, an officer of the secretariat group of the PCS currently serving as additional finance secretary, has been posted as a special finance secretary.

The provincial government, in addition to replacements at the senior level, also transferred officers holding other key positions, including senior member of the Board of Revenue, and director-general of the excise and taxation department.

The reshuffle has raised many eyebrows in the bureaucracy, which considers it a consequence of the political uncertainty that has gripped the provincial government since the floating of reports about caretaker governments in the country.

A couple of senior officials were of the view that the ruling alliance was in a hurry to get their work done before any possible change and in this quest they often did not care about rules and regulations.