The Government of the Punjab ( Punjabi, ) is the provincial government of the Pakistani province of the

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. It is based in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, the provincial capital. Its powers and structure are set out in the provisions of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, in which 41 districts come under its authority and jurisdiction. The government includes the cabinet, selected from members the Punjab Provincial Assembly, and the non-political civil staff within each department. The province is governed by a

unicameral legislature Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature consisting of one house or assembly that legislates and votes as one. Unicameralism has become an increasingly common type of legislature, making up nearly ...

with the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

known as the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

. The Chief Minister, invariably the leader of a political party represented in the Assembly, selects members of the Cabinet. The Chief Minister and Cabinet are thus responsible for the functioning of government and are entitled to remain in office so long as it maintains the confidence of the elected Assembly. The head of the province is known as the

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

, appointed by the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, on behalf of the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. The administrative and executive boss of the province is the Chief Secretary Punjab and they head all the provincial departments and the provincial cabinet. The Punjab province is the country's most populous region and is home to the Punjabis and various other groups. Neighbouring

provinces of Pakistan The administrative units of Pakistan comprise four provinces, one federal territory, and two territorial dispute, disputed territories: the provinces of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan, Pakistan, Baloch ...

are

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

to the south,

Balochistan Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region o ...

to the south-west and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the north-west, as well as

Azad Jammu and Kashmir Azad Jammu and Kashmir (), abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir ( ), is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entitySee: * * * and constituting the western portion of the larger ...

to the north and

Islamabad Capital Territory The Islamabad Capital Territory is a federal territory of Pakistan, centred around Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. It is located on the northern edge of the Pothohar Plateau, at the foot of the Margalla Hills, in the northwest of the ...

to the north-west. It also shares International border with Indian states of

and

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

to the east and Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the north. The main languages are Punjabi and

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

and the provincial capital is Lahore. The name Punjab literally translates from Persian into the words 'Panj' (پانج) five, and 'Aab' (آب) water respectively, which can be translated as "five water" (hence the poetic name land of the five rivers), referring to the Beas, Ravi,

Sutlej The Sutlej River or the Satluj River is a major river in Asia, flowing through China, India and Pakistan, and is the longest of the five major rivers of the Punjab region. It is also known as ''Satadru''; and is the easternmost tributary of t ...

, Chenab and

Jhelum Jhelum (; , ) is a city, located along the western bank of the Jhelum River, in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 21st largest city in Punjab and 31st largest in Pakistan, by population. Located in northern Punjab, it serves as the capital of the ...

rivers. Part of the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans- Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in the Western Tibet region of China, flows northwest through the dis ...

river also lies in Punjab, but it is not considered one of the "five" rivers.

Departments

There ar
41 departments
in the Punjab government. Each Department is headed by a provincial Minister (elected member of the provincial assembly) and a provincial Secretary (a civil servant of usually BPS-20, 21, or BPS-22). All ministers and Secretaries report to the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary, who are the Chief Executive. The Chief Secretary Punjab is a BPS-22 grade bureaucrat. The Chief Secretary is appointed by the

Prime Minister of Pakistan The prime minister of Pakistan (, Roman Urdu, romanized: Wazīr ē Aʿẓam , ) is the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Cabinet of Pakistan, cabinet, desp ...

. In addition to these departments, there are several Autonomous Bodies and Attached Departments that report directly to either the Secretaries or the Chief Secretary. Punjab is the largest Province by population. For better management, A Civil Secretariat with Additional chief secretary (ACS) and Additional Inspector General (IG) South Punjab office in

Multan Multan is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, fifth-most populous city in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab province of Pakistan. Located along the eastern bank of the Chenab River, it is the List of cities in Pakistan by populatio ...

was established in 2020 by the government.

List of departments

Planning & Development Board
** Planning & Development Department
Services, General Administration, Coordination Department
** Services Wing ** General Administration Wing ** Inter Provincial Coordination Wing ** I&C Wing ** Training Management & Research Management Wing * Anti-Corruption Establishment
Local Government and Community Development Department

Home Department
* Chief Minister's Inspection, Enquiries & Implementation Team * Universities and Boards Department * Food Department * Finance Department * Energy Department *

Health Department A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entity, Subnational entities, such as State (administrative division), states, county, counties an ...

* Communication and Works Department * Culture
Tourism
Antiquities & Archives Department * Works & Services Department * Information and culture Department ** Punjab Council of Arts * Excise and taxation department
Population Welfare Department

Labor & Human Resources Department

Law & Parliamentary Affairs Department
* Irrigation Department * Highway Department * Agriculture Department * Literacy & non-formal basic education department * Forestry, Wildlife and Fisheries department ** South Punjab Forest Company * Information, Science & Technology Department * Cooperative Department * Women Development Department * Transport & Mass Transit Department * Industries, commerce and investment department * Human Settlement Department * Social Welfare Department * Mines & Minerals Development Department * Rehabilitation Department
Sports & Youth Affairs Department
* Housing, Urban Development, and Public Health Engineering Department * Higher Education Department * School Education Department * Environment, Climate Change & Coastal Development Department * Investment Department * Auqaf and Religious Affairs Department * Human Rights and Minorities Affairs Department

Autonomous Bodies and Attached Departments

* Punjab Information Technology Board * Punjab Prisons (Pakistan) * Punjab Higher Education Commission * Punjab Commission on the Status of Women * Punjab Khal Panchayat Authority * Punjab Masstransit Authority * Punjab Food Authority * Punjab Forensic Science Agency * Punjab Employees Social Security Institution (PESSI)

Legislature

The Punjab Assembly is a unicameral legislature with 297 elected members, 66 seats reserved for women and 8 seats reserved for non-Muslims)

References

External links

Government of the Punjab official website

Official facebook page
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