Gandapur going to get chief secy of choice

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has finally developed good working relations with the federal government as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has reportedly agreed to appoint the chief secretary of his choice.

The federal government had earlier turned down two requests by Gandapur to appoint the chief secretary suggested by him.

According to sources, the prime minister has agreed to appoint a senior civil servant, Shakeel Qadir Khan, as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s chief secretary. He is presently serving as chief secretary of Balochistan. When reached, Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif, a spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, told The News that they had already demanded the replacement of the chief secretary and sent names of officers but the federal government had refused to post any one of them.

“The federal government had then offered to post Shakeel Qadir as chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but linked it to the consent of the chief minister of Balochistan. I don’t know if the Balochistan chief minister has agreed to relieve him or not,” he said.

Gandapur wanted Shakeel Qadir as chief secretary of the province in April this year, when the federal government did not agree with him on other names. According to sources in Islamabad, the Balochistan chief minister had refused to relieve Shakeel Qadir Khan then.

However, according to sources, Federal Minister for Interior Mohsin Naqvi and some others convinced Sarfaraz Bugti to relieve Shakeel Qadir so that he could be posted in his home province and serve his people.

“The federal government has now decided to transfer Shakeel Qadir from Balochistan and post him as chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His posting orders are likely to be issued before Eidul Azha,” a senior government official told this scribe on condition of anonymity.

Gandapur, soon after assuming office, had demanded the replacement of incumbent chief secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhary and sent a summary to the federal government to appoint a senior civil servant and former additional chief secretary KP, Shahab Ali Shah as CS.

The federal government had returned the summary and advised the chief minister to fulfill codal formalities and send in three names so that one of them could be appointed as chief secretary

Gandapur later sent another summary to the federal government with the names of three senior civil servants, including Shahab Ali Shah, Dr Shahzad Bangash and Munir Azam Khan. Dr Shahzad Bangash has already served as CS in KP in the past.

There were reports that Gandapur in his first meeting with the prime minister had demanded the appointment of Shahab Ali Shah as the chief secretary. However, the federal government again didn’t agree with him and rejected all three names.

According to senior government officials, Gandapur’s well-wishers then informed him about another competent officer from KP, Shakeel Qadir and advised him to demand the federal government post him as chief secretary.

According to sources, the Balochistan chief minister had agreed to relieve Shakil Qadir paving the way for his appointment as chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Hailing from the Parkho village near Lund Khwar town of Mardan district, Shakeel Qadir joined the Pakistan Administrative Service in 1998 and was posted in Malakand division and later in the erstwhile Fata in the initial days of his career. He has held various important positions.

He has served as the chief economist, DC of Mansehra, political agent of Bajaur and director general of PDMA during the middle management tenures.

At senior levels, he served as secretary for Law and Order and secretary of P&D Fata, secretary of P&D Balochistan, chairman of Balochistan Development Authority, secretary of Home and Tribal Affairs, secretary of Finance, additional chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, chief secretary of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and additional secretary of Power Division.

Shakil Qadir Khan has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a postgraduate diploma in Financial Services from the University of Surrey. He is also an alumnus of Bucerius Summer Law School, Hamburg, and a graduate of the National Institute of Management, Lahore, and National Defense University.