Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Kashmir Affairs is running its affairs without a secretary for the past month.

Due to non-appointment of the secretary, piles of files are waiting for the new secretary. Some most important matters are also lying pending in the ministry.

The former secretary, Abid Saeed, was transferred to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa a month ago, but the government failed to appoint his successor. It is interesting to note that no additional or joint secretary was given the charge of the secretary of the ministry during his absence.

The Kashmir affairs secretary is an important post, as the official also has the additional charge of the Kashmir Council and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Council simultaneously, due to which the development budget of AJK as well as Gilgit-Baltistan has been stopped.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Kashmir Council’s rules and regulations permit the appointment of an independent secretary, but the government has put the council under the Kashmir Affairs secretary just to keep the council under federal government’s control.

Similarly, the Gilgit-Baltistan Council’s rules of business say that one out of any five elected members of the council would enjoy the status of in-charge minister, but the federal government always gives the charge of the GB Council to the federal minister for Kashmir affairs.

In this connection, when Daily Times contacted the spokesman of the ministry, he said that no decision had been made yet regarding the appointment of the secretary.