Govt spends Rs 320bn in law & order in last four years in last four years

ISLAMABAD: Government has spent around Rs 320 billion for maintaining law and order situation and controlling incidents of terrorism during last four years.

Expenditure incurred in Punjab was Rs 160 billion, in Sindh 92 billion, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rs 50 billion, in Gigit-Baltistan Rs 4 billion and in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Rs 13 billion.

According to data available with APP, Punjab spent Rs 47 billion in financial year 2009-10 which was more than the other fiscal years including Rs 31 billion in 2007-08, Rs 37 billion in 2008-09 and Rs 45 billion in 2010-11.

Similarly, Sindh spent Rs 16 billion in 2007-08, Rs 22 billion in 2008-09, Rs 23 billion in 2009-10 and Rs 30 billion in 2010-11 on maintaining law and order and combating terrorism.

Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, the most terrorism-affected province in the country, spent huge amount to maintain law and order situation, including Rs 6.5 billion in 2007-08, Rs 8.5 billion in 2008-09, Rs.18 billion in 2009-10 and Rs 17 during 2010-11.

The government has spent huge amount in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) which also faced some terrorist incidents during the period

The amount spent included Rs 2 billion in 2007-08, Rs 2.2 billion in 2008-09, Rs 3.8 billion in 2009-10 and Rs 4.2 billion during 2010-11.

When contacted, a senior official told APP on Sunday that controlling law and order situation in the country including Karachi was priority of the government and it would leave no stone unturned to ensure peace.

About the measures, he said activists belonging to different banned organizations, who have been placed on 4th Schedule of ATA, 1997, were being closely monitored.

The official said that advance information in the shape of Special Information Report was regularly issued indicating trends and future plans of the banned organizations.

To a question regarding steps taken to control the law and order situation in Karachi and other parts of the province, he said Rs 5 billion packages had been approved by President Asif Ali Zardari to facilitate an increase in the strength of the police force and provide them with the latest equipment.

The official said the enough deployment of police force had been ensured at more sensitive places to eliminate criminal activity.

During the holy month of Ramadan, particularly for Eid-ul-Fitr, shopping would surge and the police directed to take extra security measures in this regard.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011