‘Crackdown on land mafia across Punjab from Monday’

LAHORE: Islamabad-like operation would be started against land mafia and encroachers across the Punjab province from Monday.

It was disclosed by Punjab Chief Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani during a chat with a group of journalists. Giving details of the operation, he said before launching the operation the government would ask the land mafia and encroachers to vacate the state land. If they did not vacate the state land voluntarily, then the state would get retrieved the land through massive operation.

Moreover, the Punjab government would also proceed to get withdrawn the stay orders which the land mafia had obtained from courts, he added. He disclosed that thousands of acres of state land of forest, Auqaf, irrigation, agriculture and other departments had been occupied by the mafia.

Akbar Durrani was of the view that the Punjab government would implement Prime Minister Imran Khan’s agenda and policies to achieve the set targets. He said that education, health and the rule of law were the top agenda of the present government.

Talking about reforms in the education sector, he said that the government would upgrade public sector educational institutes on the pattern of the KP model so that not only the commoners but also the government servants feel proud to send their children in these educational institute. He stated that the supremacy of law would be maintained at any cost and stressed to implement the Supreme Court’s judgment in famous Anita Turab case. He said that not only the tenure protection would be ensured but the officers would be given fair opportunities to deliver and serve the masses. He said he believed in the delegation of powers and this led to lowering of 50 percent workload on his office. He said that he had already delegated his powers to divisional commissioners so that common people should not visit the Civil Secretariat.

Durrani said the PM Imran Khan in his maiden interaction with the top bureaucracy had assured his support to the bureaucracy to achieve the targets. Responding to a question about the letters written by two deputy commissioners to election commission regarding political interference in administrative affairs, he said that all officers had already been conveyed to fully observe the chain of command. The disciplinary proceeding had been initiated against the DCs for violating the chain of command, he maintained. To another query about the interference of the NAB into administrative affairs like the arrest of the principal secretary to former PM Nawaz Sharif, Fawad Hasan Fawad and former LDA DG Ahad Cheema, he said that as the departments failed to proceed against the officers who had been living beyond means, then other agencies had to interfere. Had the anti-corruption department worked properly, then other agencies could not have done that, the CS said. He pointed out that every department’s additional secretary establishment was an ex-officio director anti-corruption.

Talking about the misuse of staff cars, Durrani said, the officers would not be allowed to use more vehicles than their entitlement. He said that only the secretaries had been given an additional vehicle for field visits. He said that the use of official vehicles to send their children to schools was not allowed at all.

On retrieved luxury and bulletproof vehicles from public sector companies, he said, the committee constituted by the cabinet would decide their fate. However, he said that the government had recommended that the vehicles should be kept in the pool for dignitaries’ use. He said that instead of auctioning the vehicles it was proposed to repair and use them instead of purchasing new vehicles under austerity measures. On closure of companies, the CS said, as per the policy they could be rolled back but only after their audit was completed.

He also said that the PTI leadership had directed them to complete the ongoing projects first. He said that there was a proposal that the retired civil servants be hired to promote education through think tanks.