KP’s southern districts to have separate secretariat

PESHAWAR: The provincial government on Saturday took an unprecedented step and approved the establishment of a separate secretariat for the underdeveloped southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Additional Chief Secretary Home & Tribal Affairs Department, Mohammad Abid Majeed, has been given the charge of Additional Chief Secretary of South in addition to his existing responsibilities till further orders.

According to an official notification, the Additional Chief Secretary (South) (designate) will prepare a concrete proposal for consideration of the provincial cabinet regarding establishment of separate secretariat for southern districts comprising Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions along with their relevant merged districts, for all the departments and their directorates.

He will finalise the proposal in consultation with all stakeholders for formulating legal framework, amendments to rules of business, financial and administrative powers independent of the existing structure for efficient and focused planning, execution, service delivery and other related matters.

The Additional Chief Secretary (South) (designate) will be answerable to the chief minister through the Chief Secretary.

Asked about the reason to establish a separate secretariat for the southern districts and whether it would not provoke the people of Hazara region to demand a similar separate secretariat for their region, Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur avoided to comment.

Ali Amin Gandapur’s political opponents reacted to the decision and claimed it was the first step by the chief minister to establish a separate province. A senior government official privy to this development, however. rejected reports about the possible creation of a separate province.

He said the purpose of establishing a separate secretariat was to focus on the development of underdeveloped southern districts.