The complex was originally built around 1822–1839 as the private residence of General Jean Baptiste Ventura, an officer in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Sikh Army — which is why its architecture is described as Sikh Empire period style, in brick masonry with lime mortar. After the British annexed Punjab, the British Residency was established here in 1847, and the site evolved into the seat of colonial bureaucracy.

After 1947 it became the civil secretariat of Pakistani Punjab, and it has remained the province’s administrative headquarters ever since — renovated in the early 2000s but still recognisably the historic complex. The Lahore Metrobus even has a dedicated Civil Secretariat Station serving it.

Many other departments sit elsewhere in Lahore — Agriculture on Davis Road, the Higher Education Department near the Museum, Energy on Jail Road — but their administrative secretaries report up through the Secretariat. The full official directory of administrative and attached departments, with addresses, is maintained on punjab.gov.pk, which is the authoritative source for reaching any office.

Address: Punjab Civil Secretariat, Lower Mall Road, Islampura, Lahore. The complex is served by the Metrobus Civil Secretariat Station.

Access: This is a restricted government complex. Members of the public generally need a prior appointment or an official reason to enter; walk-in access to secretaries’ offices is not available. Most citizen services are handled through departmental offices, the Punjab Portal (punjab.gov.pk) and district administrations rather than at the Secretariat gates.

Contacts: We do not republish phone numbers that we cannot verify as current — directories go stale fast. For verified, up-to-date contact details of every department, use the official Administrative Departments directory on punjab.gov.pk, which lists each department’s address. For complaints and service issues, the province’s citizen portal channels are the faster route.