Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad Appointed Director General of Punjab Sahulat Bazaars Authority

The Government of Punjab has appointed Naveed Rafaqat Ahmad as Director General of the Punjab Sahulat Bazaars Authority (PSBA).

His appointment reflects years of exceptional performance, both as a reformer and a scholar, that elevated PSBA into one of Pakistan’s most distinguished welfare institutions.

Before this formal elevation, Naveed held senior positions including CFO, Company Secretary, and Chief Executive Officer of the former Punjab Model Bazaars Management Company, where he led its transition from deficit to surplus and from a limited company into a statutory authority under the Punjab Sahulat Bazaars Authority Act, 2025.

This transformation is unique in Pakistan’s welfare governance, placing PSBA apart as the only organization of its kind with statutory backing, financial independence, and operational resilience.

His leadership brought initiatives unprecedented in scope and impact: essential commodities delivered at prices up to 35% below market and 7% below DC-notified rates without subsidies; Pakistan’s first government-backed free home delivery platform serving more than 85,000 orders within seven months; solar-powered bazaars reducing energy costs by 90%; and inclusive vendor policies that supported women entrepreneurs and directly linked thousands of farmers to stalls, benefitting over 60,000 families.

Recognizing these results, the Government allocated Rs. 3.44 billion in 2024 for 13 new bazaars, consolidating PSBA’s role as a flagship provincial initiative. In parallel, Naveed’s academic work, with over 25 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals, has documented subsidy-free economics, inclusive governance, and sustainability, making PSBA a case study in doctoral programs.

By combining scholarly originality with practical governance reforms, Naveed has played a critical role in positioning PSBA as a nationally recognized and widely validated model.