Punjab chief secretary gets third extension in leave.

LAHORE -- In what has now appeared as an unprecedented practice in Punjab's civil bureaucracy, the Punjab government on Sunday extended the leave period of Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal for one more month as the said officer is not willing to work with the current political dispensation in Punjab. This is the third extension granted to Kamran Afzal since he proceeded on leave over two months back owing to a non-congenial relationship with the incumbent Punjab government. According to the official notification, in continuation of the departmental orders issued on 16-10-2022 , 30,-09-2022 and 08-09-2022, the chief secretary has been granted a 30 days extension in his leave period starting from November 07 till December 6, 2022. Meanwhile, in continuation of another departmental orders issued on similar dates Chairman Planning and Development Board Punjab Abduallah Sumbal will continue to look after the routine work of the office of CS Punjab as caretaker Chief Secretary Punjab in addition to his own duties during the leave period of Kamran Ali Afzal. Following his repeated abortive attempts to pull out of the job, Punjab Chief Secretary Kamran Afzal proceeded on 14 days leave in the month of September handing over charge of the post to chairman P and D. In the last two and a half months, Kamran Ali Afzal had made several requests to the federal government to get him transferred from Punjab as he was not feeling comfortable working with the PTI and PML-Q's coalition government in Punjab. Kamran requested his transfer from Punjab at least three times to get a new responsibility in the federal government. Also, the chief secretary had personally met with the Prime Minister in the month of September and made a request for his transfer. But he was advised to stay put in his current position until his successor is appointed. Earlier, in a letter to the federal government, Kamran had excused himself to continue working as chief secretary due to his personal reasons. It was pretty obvious that Kamran Afzal does not feel comfortable working with the Punjab government; but contrary to what the CS thinks, Chief Minister Ch Parvez Elahi had earlier stated that he had no objection working with the Kamran as he enjoyed a very pleasant working relationship with him. He had also desired to retain him as Punjab's top bureaucrat. But, on the other...