The group of three officers from the economic affairs division under Punjab chief secretary has been calling the shots in the most anticipated bureaucratic reshuffle in the province, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Sources privy to the development revealed that recently appointed Punjab Chief Secretary Javaid Iqbal has not served in Punjab and hence is relying on the three officers from economic division, where he was the secretary. Former additional secretary economic affairs division Rao Iftikhar and joint secretaries Ali Raza Bhutta and Afzal Latif have been picked by the CS as his core team during the caretaker arrangement.
Sources further revealed that Rao, who is a grade 21 officer, is most likely to get the slot of additional chief secretary, while Raza Bhutta will be posted as secretary finance. Afzal Lateef has already been posted as services secretary.
Interestingly, Rao has served in the Punjab as home secretary during the governor’s rule, but was repatriated by then CS Javaid Mehmood to the federal government. The other two officers have also served in Punjab previously—the reason sources say they have been selected as the new CS’ core team in Punjab.
Sources further revealed that the principal secretary to the CM Shahid Mehmood has served with Salman Ghani, when he was chairman P&D and the former was the secretary P&D.
A senior official on the condition of anonymity further revealed that the massive bureaucratic reshuffle done in 1993 during the Moeen Qureshi’s regime has been set as the benchmark for neutrality. However, the move has become the one in which “friends and family” is being accommodated.
However, an outgoing senior official said it was a norm that every chief secretary selected his core team and worked with it. “The bureaucracy has to work with one government or another and it does not mean it is inclined to that particular political party. Coming from the federal government does not mean a bureaucrat is pro-PPP or otherwise, it is only part of the routine work,” he added.
Another senior official said the working of the current team is “unprofessional” which does not trust the bureaucracy while all decisions come from “closed door” meetings where only a group of four sit and decide.
