Captain (R) Shahid Ashraf Tarar () is a BPS-22 Pakistani civil servant who has served as Caretaker Federal Minister for

Communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

Maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

and

Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...

from 17 August 2023 to 4 March 2024. His career spans various senior roles including Chairman

National Highway Authority The National Highway Authority (NHA; ) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Communications of Pakistan. History In 1978, the Government of Pakistan federalised five important inter-provincial roads and named them ''National Highways''. Th ...

and

Federal Public Service Commission The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) () is a federal agency of Government of Pakistan that is responsible for recruiting civil servants and bureaucrats for Government of Pakistan. History The Public Service Commission was set up for ...

. Notably, he was appointed as the Executive Director of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

on behalf of seven countries including Pakistan. Prior to his civil service, Tarar served in the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

, retiring with the rank of Captain.

Career

Tarar belongs to

Pakistan Administrative Service The Pakistan Administrative Service, or PAS () (previously known as the District Management Group or DMG before 1 June 2012) is an elite cadre of the Civil Services of Pakistan. The Pakistan Administrative Service over the years has emerged as ...

. He started his career as an Assistant Commissioner in

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 ...

. He is a retired

Federal Secretary The Federal Secretary (also referred to as the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan) is the highest-ranking position in the Government of Pakistan, occupied by the most senior civil servant in a specific ministry or division. The secretary is t ...

who joined the 13th Common in the Civil Service after retiring from the

as a Captain. He also served as Secretary Excise & Taxation Punjab, Director General

National Vocational and Technical Training Commission National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) () is a regulatory body for technical education and vocational training in Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the L ...

(NAVTTC) Tarar also served as the Chairman

(NHA) in the Nawaz Sharif-led government. He oversaw speedy and timely completion of multi-billion projects as the head of NHA at that time. He has also been the Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Communications from November 2014 to December 2016. In November 2018, Tarar was appointed as an Executive Director

by the seven countries comprising Pakistan. He was also appointed as the Chairman Human Resources Committee of the World Bank Board. Before joining as a caretaker minister, Tarar was appointed as chairman

by the Shahbaz Sharif-led government in July 2023. He was sworn in by President Dr. Arif Alvi. Tarar was sworn in as the Caretaker Federal Minister in the Kakar Cabinet on 17 August 2023 and was allotted three portfolios:

, Maritime Affairs,

References

{{Kakar Cabinet Living people Pakistani civil servants Federal ministers of Pakistan Communications ministers of Pakistan Ministers of railways of Pakistan Government ministers of Pakistan World Bank Group people Year of birth missing (living people)