The Punjab government on Sunday extended the leaves of Chief Secretary Kamran Ali Afzal for a month. This is the fourth time his leave has been extended. Following the extension in Afzal’s leaves, Punjab Planning and Development Board Chairman Abdullah Sumbal will continue to perform as the acting chief secretary on a look-after-charge basis. A notification in this regard was issued by the Service and General Administration Department of the Punjab government on Sunday. Afzal went on leaves for 14 days from September 17 to September 30. On September 30, the leave of Punjab CS was extended from October 1 to October 7. Following the expiry of his vacation, his seat remained vacant for the entirety of October 8. Later, the Punjab government extended his leaves from October 8 to November 6. On Sunday, his leaves were extended from November 7 to December 6.
It is pertinent to mention that Kamran Ali Afzal, a basic pay scale (BPS) grade 22, had refused to work with the Punjab government led by Chaudhry Pervez Elahi. Elahi, though, has not moved to permanently replace Afzal as the chief secretary. Instead, he has decided to continue with Sumbal, a BPS-21 officer of the provincial administrative services, on temporary charge basis.