Differences with Ahsan Iqbal PC deputy chairman resigns

ISLAMABAD: Deputy Chairman Planning Commission (DCPC) Dr Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan on Saturday resigned from his post mainly because of differences with Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, it was learnt.

Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal also wanted to get the position of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission for having a stronghold on matters related to development projects under the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP).

There are over 1,168 development projects that fall under the PSDP list having cost of around Rs8 trillion in total, executed by ministries/divisions and attached departments as well as the provinces financed by corporations through self-financing mode. For a brief stint in the last PMLN-led regime, Sartaj Aziz was appointed as Deputy Chairman Planning Commission when Ahsan Iqbal was given the charge of the Ministry of Interior during the tenure of former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.

“Yes, DCPC Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan has resigned from his post mainly because the incumbent Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal was not comfortable with him,” top official sources confirmed while talking to The News on Saturday. When this scribe contacted a close confidant of Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and inquired about the reasons for the resignation of DCPC, he replied that Dr Jehanzeb resigned but he did not know why he had resigned. He suggested contacting the outgoing DCPC to ascertain the reason for tendering his resignation.

This scribe made efforts to contact outgoing DCPC Dr Mohammad Jehanzeb but he was not available.

Dr Jehanzeb was appointed to the position of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission by the previous PTI-led government in August 2019 when he was serving the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) in Grade-22 position. However, he got retired in August 2020 and then the PTI re-appointed him as DCPC in Special Pay Scales (SPS) for a period of three years. After the ouster of former PM Imran Khan, Shehbaz Sharif came to power and Ahsan Iqbal was appointed as Minister for Planning. Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal and the outgoing DCPC could not hold one-on-one meetings with each other in the last month, while during the official meetings, the planning minister criticised the outgoing PTI-led government, saying that the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) got destroyed in the last four-year period under the PTI-led regime.