Postings of bureaucrats for South Punjab major milestone for PTI: Qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi proclaimed on Tuesday that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has crossed a "major milestone" towards the creation of a South Punjab province by announcing the posting of bureaucrats to the region's secretariat.

"After years of struggle and determination by [the] people of South Punjab, we have achieved a major milestone in [the] establishment of a separate south Punjab province," Qureshi announced on Twitter.

The minister, who hails form Multan, noted that the incumbent government has announced the "posting of high level bureaucrats to South Punjab for a fully functional secretariat".

Qureshi said the move was a "testament" of the PTI's commitment to fulfill its promises to the country. He also congratulated the people of southern Punjab and thanked Prime Minister Imran Khan for his vision and support.

The foreign minister's tweet came a day after the Punjab government made the South Punjab civil secretariat functional with the appointment of 10 administrative secretaries in the first phase.

CM Buzdar gives green signal to establish South Punjab secretariat

In June, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had approved the setting up of a South Punjab secretariat.

The Punjab government had said that the headquarters for the police bureaucracy will be set up in Multan, whereas the civil bureaucracy’s headquarters will be established in Bahawalpur.

In the same month, the chief minister had issued a notification for the appointment of the additional chief secretary and additional inspector general of police for South Punjab as well.

At the time, Buzdar had said that new postings would be carried out soon, adding that the officials would dispense their duties from July 1. Due to the measures taken by the government, the sense of deprivation is ending in the people of Punjab, he had claimed.