KARACHI: Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah on Tuesday reviewed the progress on provincewide fire safety audits, development schemes, pension cases, departmental promotions and recruitment through the Sindh Job Portal.
The chief secretary chaired a meeting of the Secretaries Committee, a forum comprising all administrative secretaries of provincial departments, where he was informed that 3,427 buildings had been identified for fire safety audit across Sindh, while 947 buildings had been revisited during the second phase.
He was informed that out of the 947 buildings revisited, 633 had been found substantially compliant with fire safety requirements.
The chief secretary directed that coordina-tion among the district administrations, Provincial Disaster Management Authority, local authorities and other relevant departments be strengthened to ensure timely completion of inspections and improved compliance.
Orders settlement of audit paras The chief secretary directed all departments to convenemeetings of their DepartmentalAccounts Committees (DACs) within one month and take up pending audit paras on a priority basis.
He said matters relating to the Public Accounts Committee and DACs must be pursued within the prescribed timelines.
‘Timely settlement of audit observations is essential for financial discipline, transparency and institutional accountability,’ he said, directing administrative secretaries to closelymonitor progress and ensure that pending matters are not allowed to accumulate.
Reviewing pension matters, CS Shah directed all departments to ensure timely processing of pension cases so that retired employees did not face unnecessary hardship.
He also directed the establishment of pension facilitation desks in all provincial departments, the office of the Accountant General and district treasury offices to provide guidance and assistance to retiring and retired government employees.
The meeting also reviewed progress on recruitment through the Sindh Government Job Portal for posts in BPS-05 to BPS-15.
The chief secretary said the recruitment process through the portal was aimed at making public-sector hiring more transparent, efficient and merit-based. He directed departments toexpedite the remaining recruitment processes.
The meeting also reviewed digital governance initiatives across provincial departments.
The CS said greater use of digital systems was necessary to improve transparency, reduce delays and make government services more accessible and responsive to citizens.
The CS also directed all departments to expedite pending promotion cases in accordance with the rules and prescribed procedures.
He said timely disposal of promotion and disciplinary matters was important for maintaining administrative efficiency and institutional discipline.
He directed administrative secretaries to take ownership of reform measures in their respective departments and ensure that decisions taken at the Secretaries Committee level were implemented within the prescribed timelines.