Auqaf slumping in absence of chief administrator

LAHORE - The Punjab Auqaf Department is without an incumbent Secretary/Chief Administrator for the last four months. Ever since Secretary Khyzer Hayat Gondal proceeded on training in June last, and later promoted to grade 21 and posted as Federal Secretary, the department had been running without a secretary, while none was placed against this post. However, the additional charge was given to Secretary Tourism Shahid Mehmood, who is still holding the dual charge despite the lapse of over four months.
As such, the Department is virtually without any head as the Secretary Tourism is skeptical of devising full-fledged working policy and decision-making on vital issues. Everything is on ad-hocism, and the important meetings, decisions and new initiatives are lacking seriously.
One of these is the finalisation of Madarras Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, conceived a few months ago to bring the madarras (seminaries) into the mainstream of education to which the Auqaf Department played a vital role in the past. It is still in limbo despite the fact that a fair spadework had been done on it. The process of posting/transfer and recruitment of staff has also come to a standstill.
Due to the lack of administrative and regulatory measures, the zonal heads and administrators of the Department at various outlets as well as the administrative offices have either no direction of work or are undergoing a state of uncertainty and stalemate.