Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has removed Jhelum Deputy Commissioner Mir Reza Ozgen from his post over his orders to postpone Intermediate examinations due to her expected visit to the district on November 10.
The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi had postponed the Computer Science papers of the Intermediate Second Annual Examinations, scheduled for November 10, until November 30 on the recommendation of the Jhelum deputy commissioner.
The recommendation was made in view of CM Maryam’s visit to Jhelum and Pind Dadan Khan and anticipated traffic congestion.
In a post on X, the chief minister said the incident amounted to a clear disregard for her directions, announcing that the deputy commissioner was being removed from his post with immediate effect.
The Punjab chief minister said she had explicitly directed that her visits to districts should not cause any inconvenience or disruption to the public, particularly students.
She said no inconvenience should be caused to the public during her visits, adding that the authorities were expected to ensure that students and other members of the public did not face disruption.
In a subsequent post, she shared a notification confirming the DC’s transfer and directing the officer to report to the Punjab Services and General Administration Department for further instructions.
A notification subsequently issued by the Punjab government said Ozgen, a BS-19 officer, had been transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to the Services and General Administration Department for further orders.
Maryam also announced that the previously postponed examinations would now be held as originally scheduled on November 10.
“Notwithstanding any acts of foolishness or misplaced over-smartness on the part of the district administration, the examinations shall be held strictly in accordance with the original schedule, i.e. Tuesday, 10th November,” she said in another X post.–Agencies
