PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Saturday appointed a senior bureaucrat as additional chief secretary (ACS) south to come up with a blueprint for setting up a dedicated secretariat for the southern districts of the province.

A notification issued by the establishment department stated that the chief minister was pleased to authorise Mohammad Abid Majeed, (BS-21), ACS home and tribal affairs department, to act as ACS (south) (designate), in addition to his existing responsibilities, with immediate effect, till further orders.

The notification said that the ACS south designate would prepare a concrete proposal for consideration of the provincial cabinet regarding setting up of separate secretariat for southern districts, including Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions, along with relevant merged districts, for all departments and their directorates.

In addition to this, the notification said that ACS south designate would also finalise proposals in consultation with all stakeholders for formulating legal framework, amendments in rules of business, financial and administrative powers independent of the existing structures for efficient and focused planning, execution, service delivery and other related matters.

Besides, it said that ACS south designate would be answerable to the chief minister through the chief secretary.

A senior government official told Dawn that Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur wanted focused development in the southern districts of the province, and that was why he had decided to set up a dedicated secretariat for this purpose.

The official said that they would prepare a blueprint for setting up this secretariat over coming weeks, which would then be placed before the provincial cabinet for its nod.

Earlier, a separate Fata secretariat was working to oversee the affairs in tribal districts; however, it was abolished after the area’s merger with the province.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2024