LAHORE:Punjab Chief Secretary (CS) Kamran Ali Afzal has said that welfare of people, improvement in governance, public service delivery, development projects, merit and transparency will be his top priorities.
Presiding over an introductory meeting with the administrative secretaries at the Civil Secretariat on Friday, he said that the welfare of people was the basic charter and responsibility of the state and it was the duty of government officials to implement this charter. He maintained that timely completion of uplift schemes would be ensured.
The CS said that officers would be given full freedom to work but there would be strict accountability in place. He said that transfers would be made thoughtfully and only on the basis of merit and performance.
Kamran Ali said that the officers should perform their duties without any fear or danger. He said that transparency could not be ensured without accountability, saying that work would be done only on merit. He warned that there would be a zero tolerance policy against corruption adding that poor performance and corruption would not be tolerated under any circumstances.
He directed the officers concerned to adopt practical steps to address this problem and take stern action against hoarders and profiteers. He said that disciplinary action could only bring about a temporary improvement, adding that the secretaries should improve the departments through the example of their role.
The meeting was attended by the Additional Chief Secretary, Additional Chief Secretary Home, Chairman P&D and all secretaries.
Later, the CS Punjab held a meeting via video link with all the divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners and conveyed his priorities to them. He directed all the divisional commissioners to hold open court in districts once a week for the resolution of peoples’ problems. He asked the field officers to deal people with polity, besides ensuring that they do not need any recommendation for access to basic services. He directed that transparency should be ensured in tendering of development projects. He said that deputy commissioners should visit hospitals and other departments responsible for service delivery. He also ordered the officers to take stern action against corrupt officials.