Azma warns Punjab governor against interfering in administration

LAHORE: Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari has urged Punjab Governor Saleem Haider Khan to refrain from interfering in administrative affairs of the province and avoid acting like the opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

The governor has been opposing certain initiatives of the provincial government, including running government schools under public-private partnership and process to appointment of vice-chancellors of universities. He said at a meeting with students that the Sindh government of the PPP was allocating three-fold more funds for education and health sectors than Punjab.

He had earlier also criticised Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the top judge’s appointment issue as well as the defamation law passed by the Punjab government early this year.

Ms Bokhari reminded the governor that he was just a representative of the federation and had no role in the administrative matters. She said Maryam Nawaz knew how to manage the province’s administrative affairs.

Ms Bokhari said schools in Sindh were often found with animals kept there, and cheating in exams and selling the entire examination centres was rampant.

She claimed the province where the PPP had been in government for the last 16 years, a 19th-century education system still prevailed.

She mentioned that seven districts in Punjab had the highest literacy rates, while many areas in Sindh lacked schools altogether. She said there had been frequent media reports about ghost employees and students in Sindh’s education department.

She alleged that except Karachi and Hyderabad, literacy rate in Sindh was virtually “zero”.

Ms Bokhari asserted that due to improved education standards in Punjab, government schools’ students were achieving prominent positions in board examinations.

She recalled recent incidents related to the Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Test (MDCAT) in Sindh that drew nationwide attention.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2024