ISLAMABAD-The federal government has appointed Dr Jehanzeb Khan, former BS-22 officer of Pakistan Administrative Service, as deputy chairman of Planning Commission for the third time.
“The Prime Minister is pleased to appoint Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, (BS-22/PAS/Retd), as Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission on contract basis with immediate effect,” said a notification issued here by the establishment division.
In August 2019, the then PTI government had appointed former chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue Dr Jehanzeb Khan as Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission (DCPC). The appointment of Jehnazeb Khan as DCPC marked the return of a bureaucrat to the important post of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission after 23 years.
During the five years term of PML(N) government from 2014-18, the Federal Minister for Planning and Development was holding the charge of Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, which was followed by the initial one year of PTI tenure, where Planning Minister Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar was also holding the charge of DCPC.
After serving for almost an year as Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Jehanzeb Khan was due to retire from PAS on reaching superannuation in August 2020. However, the PTI government had reappointed him as DCPC for a period of three years.
Following the removal the PTI government from power through no confidence motion in April, 2022, the PDM government had appointed Ahsan Iqbal as Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives. Soon after the appointment of new minister, differences were developed between the Federal Planning Minister and DCPC Jehanzeb Khan.
On May 21, 2022, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Dr Jahanzeb had resigned from the post, apparently due to the differences with the Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives, Ahsan Iqbal over the volume of development budget and inclusion of new projects in Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had accepted the resignation of DCPC and handed over the additional charge of deputy chairman Planning Commission to then Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal. Now the caretaker government has appointment Dr Jehanzeb as DCPC for the third time.