Chief Secretary Punjab, Zahid Akhtar Zaman, has given a deadline to complete the Civil Secretariat building by December this year. He expressed these views during a visit to the under-construction building of the Civil Secretariat here on Tuesday. Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab, Capt. (R) Saqib Zafar, was also accompanied by him. Secretary Finance Punjab Mujahid Sher Dil, Secretary Services South Punjab Amjad Shoaib Tareen, Commissioner Aamir Khattak, DC Umar Jahangir, and CEO IDAP Sohail Ashraf were also present. Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman inspected the construction quality in the Secretariat and inquired about the road network and landscaping plan. He said that the government wants to inaugurate the Civil Secretariat by December. CS Punjab further said that the establishment of a separate secretariat was a long-standing dream of the people of South Punjab.
Shifting the offices of the departments to the Civil Secretariat will accelerate the pace of development in the region. Chief Secretary Punjab directed to plant mango trees in the Civil Secretariat as mangoes were the identity of South Punjab. He warned that there would be no compromise on the construction quality of the project. The performance of administrative secretaries would improve further by establishing their offices under one roof. Additional Chief Secretary South Punjab, Capt. (R) Saqib Zafar, said that the offices of eight departments in South Punjab will be shifted to Civil Secretariat Multan. The design of the secretariat has been prepared in view of the shifting of more departments to South Punjab in the future. He concluded that space is available to construct offices for eight more departments in the Civil Secretariat.
CEO IDAP Sohail Ashraf said that Rs 3.5 billion was being spent on the construction of the Civil Secretariat Complex. The Civil Secretariat was being constructed on 504 kanal land.