Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ended Friday the readjustment of the federal cabinet by assigning portfolios to recently induced ministers, as well as remodeling the portfolios of some ministers in service, with the aim of improving the efficiency of the government in its second year.
Unlike the statements about austerity measures, the prime minister had recently expanded his team by inducing 12 federal ministers, nine state ministers, four special assistants (SAPMS) and three advisors in the federal cabinet. The new cabinet included two ministers for the Public Affairs Unit.
Despite the inclusion of some new and old faces, the cabinet expected the completion of the portfolios. With the last induction, the cabinet increased its ranks to 30 federal ministers and nine state ministers. Similarly, Shehbaz has three advisors and four SAPMs and six coordinators.
According to a notification of the Cabinet Division on Friday, “the Prime Minister, according to rule 3 (4) of the Business Rule, 1973, has been pleased to assign portfolios (government businesses) to federal state ministers and ministers.”
He said that Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry received the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; Ali Pervaiz Malik, oil; Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, National Heritage and Culture; Khalid Magsi, Science and Technology; Hanif Abbasi, railroads; Wattoo, water resources; Junaid Anwar, Maritime Affairs; Raza Hayat Haraj, Defense production; Sardar Muhammad Yousaf, religious affairs and interreligious harmony; Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Information Technology and Telecommunications; Rana Mubashar Iqbal, Public Affairs Unit, and Syed Mustafa Kamal, National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination.
New state ministers include Malik Rasheed Khan for national food security and research; Abdul Rehman Kanju, with an additional portfolio of the Public Affairs Unit; Aqeel Malik, Law & Justice; Bilal Azhar Kayani, railroads; Kesoo Mal Kheal das, religious matters and interreligious harmony; Mohammad Awn Saqlain, Pakistanis abroad and human resources development; Mukhtar Ahmad Malik, National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination; Talal Chaudhry, Interior and Narcotics Control and Wajiha Qamar for Federal Education and Professional Training.
The notification also bears names of the ministers that already serve in the federal cabinet with new or reallocated wallets. They include Khawaja Asif as Minister of Defense, Azam Nazeer Tarar as Minister of Laws and Justice with additional human rights portfolio, Musadik Malik as Minister of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination.
Attaullah Tarar will continue to serve as Minister of Information and Radiodifusion, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui as Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training, Qaiser Sheikh as Minister of the Investment Board, Abdul Aleem Khan as Minister of Communications, Chaudhry Salik Hussain as Minister for the Development of Human Resources and Rana Ran Resources.
The advisors were also assigned the portfolios. Rana Sanaullah Khan would continue as an advisor to political and public matters and interprovincial coordination, Dr. Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah would serve as an advisor to the office of the Prime Minister, Muhammad Ali, as an advisor to privatization and Pervez Khattak as an advisor in internal matters. Everyone has the state of a federal minister.
Similarly, SAPMs are: Syed Tariq Fatmi; Fahd Haroon for digital media; Ambassador (retd) Muhammad Sadiq as special representative of Pakistan in Afghanistan; Tariq Bajwa, coordination of the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Haroon Akhtar for Industries & Production, Huzaifa Rehman, National Heritage & Culture; Mubarak Zeb, tribal issues, and Talha Burki, political matters. SAPM have the state of the Minister of State. Only Fatmi does not have a specific portfolio.
Prime Minister’s coordinator is: Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath for National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination; Shabbir Ahmed Usmani for Cashmiro and Gilgit Baltistan matters; Romina Khurshid Alam for climate change and environmental coordination; Rana IHSAAN AFZAL Khan (without portfolio), Shahbaz Badar for the media; and Ikhtiar Wali to obtain information for the affairs of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
