Arts Council president Ahmed Shah takes oath as Sindh’s interim information minister

The Arts Council of Pakistan’s Karachi president and renowned social and cultural figure, Muhammad Ahmed Shah, on Saturday was inducted into the caretaker Sindh cabinet as minister for information, minorities affairs, and social protection.

A ceremony was held at the Governor House where Shah took the oath of office. Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori administered the oath. Interim Chief Minister Justice (retired) Maqbool Baqar, witnessed the oath-taking by Shah.

The ceremony was conducted by Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Fakhre Alam. It was also attended by members of the caretaker cabinet, provincial secretaries, writers, artists, poets, and media persons. The guests of the ceremony greeted Shah on becoming an interim minister.

On Thursday last, the interim CM, while speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the 16th International Urdu Conference at the Arts Council, announced that Shah would be inducted into his cabinet in recognition of his literary and cultural services in the city.

The chief secretary issued the notification for the allocation of portfolios to Shah as a member of the cabinet.

Meanwhile, the governor and the CM held a one-to-one meeting at the Governor House. The meeting took into consideration the law and order situation of the province and affairs related to the upcoming general elections. Both developed the consensus that under-construction development projects in the city should be timely completed after ensuring quality in their works.

Separately, in a statement, Mrs Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani, president, and Sarmad Ali, secretary general of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, respectively have congratulated Ahmad Shah, a reputed and distinguished literary personality, on his appointment as minister for information of Sindh.

The APNS office-bearers hoped that under his stewardship the relations of the Sindh government and the print media would be further strengthened and the functioning of the Sindh Information Department would be streamlined and improved.

The statement said that the APNS is confident that during the tenure of Ahmad Shah the freedom of press will be safeguarded and protected. They were confident he will put in his best efforts to promote and protect free media in the province. The APNS assured him its support and cooperation.