Hashim lauds PM for approving S Punjab as separate admin unit

LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht has praised Prime Minister Imran Khan for endorsing the plan of making south Punjab a separate administrative unit and allocating 32 per cent job quota for the region in line with its population ratio.

He told The News that the prime minister was extensively briefed about recommendations of the ministerial committee, headed by him during his latest visit to Lahore. He said the ministerial committee would forward a final draft to the CM within a week for approval by the cabinet.

He said that in his presentation to the prime minister, he proposed to amend Punjab’s Civil Servant Act 1974 (Act VIII of 1974) as all other provinces had powers to allocate jobs on zonal/ regional basis.

He said he pleaded for job quota to allow local human resource to serve its people close to their home base. He said that Balochistan had seven zones, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa five and Sindh had two zones.

Hashim said the ministerial committee had recommended to keep major departments like finance, planning and development, law, services and general administration as well as home in Lahore for central decision making, which may be devolved at a later stage.

However, livestock and dairy development, agriculture, health, education, wildlife and fisheries and irrigation, housing, urban development and public health engineering (HUD&PHE), board of revenue, communication and works, local government and community development would be run from the south Punjab secretariat. The minister said that construction of new buildings for the secretariats in Multan and Bahawalpur would be started in the current fiscal year.