Jawwad Malik Assumes Charge as CS Punjab Amid Severe Governance Crisis

Muhammad Faisal Ali Ghumman

LAHORE– After a powerful senior bureaucrat was transferred from Punjab, another senior bureaucrat stepped into the shoes of the provincial government to assume the charge of his office on Saturday amid severe governance crisis and uncertainty among administrative secretaries, the commissioners and deputy commissioners.

Newly-appointed Chief Secretary Punjab Jawwad Rafique Malik, who replaced Major (retired) Azam Suleman Khan on Friday, assumed the charge of his office at his Camp Office and hasted no time to conduct meetings linking to post-coronavavirus lockdown policies.

Malik, who belongs to 15^th common of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS), was previously posted as the Federal Secretary Communication Division, Islamabad. He has also served important positions in Punjab including Senior Member Board of Revenue, Secretary Health, Secretary Local Government, Commissioner Lahore Division, Additional Secretary Home and Director Food Punjab.

After assuming the charge, the CS chaired a high-level meeting and vowed to go along with the Bozdar-led government’s policies, resolve people’ problems, improve governance and public service delivery.

A source at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, speaking to Lahore Mirror, claimed that appointments of four chief secretaries in Punjab since September/October 2017 has categorically established that the bureaucrats would continue to understand that independence in their policies sans public representatives would not be welcomed by the ‘weak’ provincial chief executive who stills enjoys the support of the premier.

He said the experience to appoint a powerful bureaucrat to fix governance of Punjab turned to be a disaster for the PTI government as a group of disgruntled MPs complained to the authorities that the bureaucracy was not listening to them, which is up to some extent is their right.

The source said contrary to Suleman, Jawaad would be serving the chief minister in a stereotype and conventional working style like majority CSs do.

A senior official is of the view that the professional incompetence on the part of Azam Suleman is that he failed to establish good relations between government officers, ministers and MPs as three tiers actually run the entire system. With nearly 30 years service, Suleman should have sorted out differences between field officers and MPs to improve the working of Punjab government rather getting things worse, he adds.

In a political culture, the field officers need to continue side by side all stakeholders while toeing a policy of ‘merit’, he says and adds it also appears officers of the Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) are not willing to support the PTI government after Fawad Hassan Fawad and Ahad Cheema episodes.

Another senior official, however, says the federal government’s expectations to improve merit-oriented administration to the benefit of people would remain a dream.

He said new CS in his brief chit chat didn’t indicate any reshuffles for the time being, but majority officers believe changes would take place if not in the holy month of Ramadan, but later.

Sources close to the Chief Secretary Office says appointments of new Secretary Home and Senior Member Board of Revenue are likely shortly, while changes in regions and districts will be case to case basis not in bulk like these happened in the tenure of Azam Suleman.