Mumtaz Ali Shah takes office as new chief secretary

Mumtaz Ali Shah, a grade-22 government officer, assumed the office of the Sindh chief secretary on Sunday.

He has become the 78th chief secretary since Sindh province came into existence in 1936 during the colonial era and the 41st chief secretary since the four provinces were revived in Pakistan in 1970 after the one unit system of administration was discarded by the then government.

Before assuming the office of Sindh chief secretary, Shah had been working as secretary of the Division of Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony. He has replaced Major (retd) Azam Suleman Khan, who has been directed by the federal government to report to the Establishment Division in Islamabad until he is assigned new administrative responsibilities.

Khan had been earlier posted as the chief secretary of Sindh in June under the countrywide shake-up and reshuffle of the bureaucracy and police administration as the caretaker set-up was installed before the July 25 general elections.

Shah, the new chief secretary, was one of the three grade-22 officers whose names were earlier referred by the federal government to the Sindh government to choose from.

Shah has earlier served in the Sindh government in various positions, including home secretary, chairman of Sindh Anti-Corruption Establishment, secretary of universities and educational boards, secretary for special education and secretary for works and services.

Meanwhile, the outgoing chief secretary, Azam Suleman Khan, met Sindh Governor Imran Ismail at the Governor House on Sunday.

The governor appreciated the services of the outgoing chief secretary for the province saying that during his tenure Khan had taken praiseworthy steps for improving administrative affairs in the province.

Governor Ismail also appreciated Khan’s role in ensuring peaceful conduct of the general elections in the province.

The outgoing chief secretary said that it had been an honour for him to serve in Sindh province which bears historical importance.

Khan said that he had taken steps to resolve the problems of people related to administration and to provide maximum benefits to the public.

He said that he was grateful that all the concerned stakeholders and officials extended him maximum cooperation, enabling him to discharge his duties in the province in best of the manner. The farewell meeting between the two authorities took into consideration administrative and governance affairs, and other matters of mutual interest in the province.