Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday paid a special visit to Ramadan Bazaar set up at Jinnah Stadium Sialkot to inspect the quality of food items. During her visit, Awan schooled Sialkot Assistant Commissioner (AC) Sonia Sadaf for failing to control the sale of substandard items in bazaars.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) local leaders and AC Sialkot Sonia Sadaf were also present on the occasion. Ramadan took stern notice of the sale of substandard goods and told AC Sialkot that it was her duty to check the quality of the goods.
A video being circulated on social media illustrates that Awan, upon seeing ‘third class’ food being sold at one stall, asked AC Sadaf for an explanation. A dispute broke out between the two. Awan lost her cool and started yelling at the AC for her negligence after hearing her arguments.
“You are getting paid for the work and it is your duty to keep a check on the things here,” Awan shouted at AC Sialkot. The AC Sialkot tried to give her position on the matter. However, Awan continued shouting at her. As AC asked Awan to behave, all her requests went in vain.
“The government is suffering from bureaucratic machinations. If you have been appointed as the AC and drawing a salary for the purpose, then face the people. Why are you hiding?” Awan said to her. “Your actions are contradictory to that of an assistant commissioner.”
Following a reprimand from Awan, Sadaf bolted away from the bazaar angrily. The video showing Awan shouting at the AC went viral on social media within no time.
Check it out:
Twitter users strongly reacted to Awan shouting at a government official
Many are of the opinion that Awan was only arguing for the sake of facilitating the general public and calling out AC Sialkot’s incompetency and mismanagement. It is pertinent to mention that every officer is accountable to their people, and so is AC Sadaf. She is answerable to the public for her lack of proficiency, and thus, what Awan did was only to remind the latter of her responsibilities that she is essentially assigned to.
Well, Awan’s delivery could be wrong, but her intentions were not. Civil servants and political leaders need to perform together for Pakistan, and that applies to our bureaucracy too.
Earlier, Awan’s unbelievable stance on harassment faced by women also ruffled the feathers of everyone. Additionally, she also came under heavy fire on her comments linking ‘tabdeeli’ with the earthquake.
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