Page 210 - Muzaffargarh Gazzetteer

Seemingly a small step, the establishment of Awaz-e-Khalq helpline was
expected to go a long way in facilitating those who would seek to interact with
the Government for any service or complaint. In fact, it would make their
interaction a pleasant one. Needless to say here, it would fill a void which
has always been there between ordinary citizens and the lowest tier of the
Government ever since the creation of Pakistan.

COMPILING THE GAZETTEER
Compiling gazetteers was a tradition of the days gone by. The deputy
commissioners in the pre-partition era, at times, used to compile the
gazetteers particularly at the conclusion of settlements. A gazetteer was
considered the most sacred and authentic document in respect of any given
district, and contained all the necessary information including, but not
limited to, people, places, and practices prevalent there. Like many other
good traditions, compiling gazetteer too has been put on the back burner for
there are many more urgent and pressing issues to deal with by the deputy
commissioners these days. Tenures, on the other hand, have become too
small to attend to as demanding and time-taking a task as compiling a
comprehensive gazetteer. As a result, such an important source of
information has been lost. We, at Muzaffargarh, tried to redeem the tradition.
The fact that the district had completed 225 years of its existence further
warranted that a special edition might be brought out to commemorate the
same; hence this gazetteer. However, merely doing what our predecessors
had done around a century ago was not enough; something more and
contemporary needed to be done. We are therefore setting a new precedent.
Going with this era of information technology, we are launching an electronic
and online version too, with pictures, videos, graphs and more. This would
not only satisfy tastes of the present generation but would provide the
information in more accessible and searchable form too. Also, it would be
easier for the newer lot of deputy commissioners to maintain and update the
gazetteer in this form.
DESIGNING THE LOGO

In order to give Muzaffargarh in general and the District Administration in
particular, an identity, it was decided to get a representative logo prepared
along modern lines. Ideas and designs were invited from general public for
the purpose through media. Finally, on the basis of input so received, a logo
was designed with the help of professional designers. It all took hard work,
and a lot of back-and-forth consultation, of around 5 months. The logo was
unveiled on August 31, 2019 on the eve of the Shan-e-Muzaffargarh Awards
in the Jinnah Hall, which was also inaugurated the same day.

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