Punjab gets new CS, IGP

LAHORE: The federal government Tuesday issued a notification posting Federal Secretary Industries Kamran Ali Afzal as Punjab Chief Secretary vice Jawad Rafique Malik and Punjab Safe City Authority Managing Director Rao Sardar Ali Khan as Inspector General of Police in place of Inam Ghani.

Jawad Rafique Malik has been posted as Federal Secretary Industries, while Inam Ghani as Inspector General of Police Pakistan Railways.

Newly-appointed Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal is from the 21st Common of Pakistan Administrative Service and hails from Sharqpur. He did his PhD in economics and had served on key positions like federal finance and industries secretaries. He had also served as additional secretary of the Local Government, additional secretary of the P&D, deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner in Punjab.

He will be the fifth chief secretary in three years of the PTI government while Rao Sardar Ali will be seventh IGP. Rao belongs to the 18th Common and joined police service in 1990. During his 31-year police service, he had served in important positions in all the provinces and the federal government. He had also served on the United Nation mission. Before his posting as Punjab IGP, he was serving as MD of the Punjab Safe City Authority. He had also served as RPO of Bhawalpur and Sargodha, Additional IG of Punjab CTD, Joint Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Punjab, Lahore DIG Operations and Faisalabad CPO.

Sources in the Punjab bureaucracy say following the change in command of top positions, a massive reshuffle is being expected both in civil bureaucracy and police because every newcomer brings his own team.

They say rapid postings and transfers of chief secretary and IGP affect government performance. They say previously the federal government had transferred chief secretaries and IGs but this time both Jawad Rafique Malik and Inam Ghani were transferred at the request of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.

Apparently they were transferred because of poor law and order, bad governance and failure to control price hike, they say and add in fact PTI ministers and parliamentarians had complained about Jawad Rafique Malik and Inam Ghani to the CM.