Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has removed the deputy commissioner of Jhelum from his post after intermediate examination papers in the district were postponed because of her scheduled visit. The decision was announced on Sunday, according to Centreline.

The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi had postponed the Computer Science papers of the Intermediate Second Annual Examinations, scheduled for 10 November, until 30 November. The postponement was made on the recommendation of Jhelum Deputy Commissioner Mir Reza Ozgen, in view of the chief minister's expected visit to Jhelum and Pind Dadan Khan and anticipated traffic congestion.

According to 99 News, Ozgen had written to the Rawalpindi board explaining that the deployment of administrative and security personnel for the visit could disrupt the examinations and inconvenience students. The board acted on that request and moved the papers, only for the chief minister to reverse the decision and remove the officer who had sought the change. The announcement came on Sunday, two days before the visit and the examinations were due to take place.

In a post on X, the chief minister said the incident amounted to a clear disregard for her directions and announced that the deputy commissioner was being removed from his post with immediate effect. She said she had explicitly directed that her visits to districts should not cause any inconvenience or disruption to the public, particularly students appearing in examinations.

In a subsequent post, she shared a notification confirming the officer's transfer and directing him to report to the Punjab Services and General Administration Department for further instructions. A notification issued by the Punjab government said Ozgen, a BS-19 officer, had been transferred with immediate effect and directed to report to the department for further orders.

Maryam Nawaz also announced that the postponed examinations would now be held as originally scheduled on Tuesday, 10 November. "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 post on X.

The chief minister's office has also reissued instructions to officials across Punjab that citizens must not face inconvenience during her visits, with no market, shop or business establishment to be closed during official visits, according to reports of the fresh directives. The instructions were circulated to regional police officers, district police officers, commissioners and deputy commissioners across the province.

The episode has drawn attention to the disruption that official VIP movement can cause to public life in Punjab. For the students due to sit the Computer Science papers, the immediate outcome is that their examinations will go ahead on the original date rather than being pushed back by three weeks.