LAHORE: Every administrative officer of Punjab’s Local Government Department will be assigned a district and must visit it at least once a week, Minister Zeeshan Rafique ordered on Wednesday, with photographs of surprise village inspections to be shared in WhatsApp groups as proof.
The decision was taken at a review meeting at the Civil Secretariat attended by Local Government Secretary Zaid Bin Maqsood, Director General Benish Fatima and Special Secretaries Arshad Baig, Syed Musa Raza and Shahid Zaman Lak.
The department supervises several major projects with a direct connection to 130 million people, Rafique said, adding that officers shared responsibility for meeting the trust of the public and the chief minister. “All officers should go to the field and ensure the achievement of the targets,” he said.
He told officers to make unannounced visits to villages to improve sanitation. The secretary ordered a special proforma for these inspections and said photographic evidence must be posted in designated WhatsApp groups.
The arrangement places a heavy monitoring load on the provincial secretariat while Punjab still has no elected local governments. Opposition parties have pressed for a firm schedule for local body elections, and in the meantime officials appointed by the province run municipal affairs.
Using WhatsApp photographs as proof of inspection is quick and cheap, but it leaves no formal record, and the meeting did not say how findings would be followed up or published.
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