CS for better coordination to strengthen service delivery

Provincial anti-graft organisation officer says establishment under-staffed

Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) Kamran Ali Afzal, otherwise known as ‘top babu’, is all set to strengthen his Services & General Administration (S&GAD) by increasing coordination to control different autonomous bodies, attached departments and special institutions through a newly created seat of additional secretary coordination.

According to a notification issued by the S&GAD, the Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) director general would coordinate for budgetary, operational and other issues with the new wing. The purpose is to facilitate ACE in executing the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s anti-graft policy.

Moreover, the section would also deal with the matters relating to human resources from BP1-BP17 through the admin wing of the S&GAD.

A senior officer of the provincial anti-graft establishment revealed that the S&GAD on and off didn’t respond to ACE’s demands regarding budgetary needs or human resources, needed to deal with the overdue corruption cases.

He said that the establishment has also been dealing with the anti-encroachment campaign across lands. “The ACE has retrieved thousands of acres of state land from land mafia in addition to its prime job of bringing to justice to those who get gratification in the public sector,” the officer held.

He said that the establishment was usually short staffed and despite repeated reminders, the S&GAD couldn’t come up with any viable policy to resolve this issue.

Responding to a Minute Mirror query that it was not the ACE’s job to retrieve state lands, he said, “When departments concerned (Board of Revenue) would not perform duties properly any other will do.”

He revealed that rather revenue officials were found involved in state land grabbing worth billions of rupees. This double-dealing urged the ACE to become an active player in this sector too.

Moreover, the newly established coordination wing would also have a liaison with Punjab Procurement Regulatory Authority, Punjab Provincial Government Servants Housing Foundation, Punjab Overseas Pakistani Commission and Punjab Governments Servants Benevolent Fund Board both gazetted and Non-gazetted.

Another senior officer of the S&GAD said that many people approached Afzal for redressal of their issues.

Moreover, the Murree fiasco, a minor’s death by falling into a manhole in Faisalabad, the nine-year-old’s tragic incident at Mayo hospital and the sad incident at Services Hospital where a young patient died unattended while doctors manhandled his relatives in the hospital and many more issues prompted the the CS to take more strict action.

Though the CS took cognizance and constituted committees to furnish reports, it emerged as just a routine matter.

The senior officer said that the CS wanted to turn away from the old-age traditional system whereby files moved from this office to that.

Moreover, in the wake of the Murree tragedy that claimed about two dozen lives and led to an administrative reshuffle of the top administrative machinery in the Rawalpindi division, the CS had desired to empower his field formations. The deputy commissioners (DCs) and assistant commissioners (ACs) the other day were given powers of the counter signing of performance evaluation reports of all officers. The step was taken to strengthen the Punjab government’s representatives in the districts and tehsils.

It surfaced during the Murree incident that different departments didn’t respond to the DC office properly and timely. Neither traffic police nor other agencies like Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) extended their timely support to the civil administration.

Afzal has taken strict notice of the Murree report authored by Home Secretary Zafar Nasrullah Khan and decided to pay surprise visits to different remote areas and public facilities including Murree.

“There is no space for incompetent officers in the public sector and there is no good governance without good oversight,” the CS was quoted as saying.

However, the senior officer said that micromanagement was not the CS’s job. He should rather supervise and ensure checks besides initiating disciplinary proceedings against those who were found guilty while performing their duties.