Minister directs departments to prepare comprehensive security plan

LAHORE: Federal Caretaker Minister for Communications Shahid Ashraf Tarar on Wednesday directed all departments concerned to craft a comprehensive and thorough security plan for general elections 2024, leaving no security issue unaddressed, aiming to reassure the public of their safety.

He said with the arrangements of caretaker setup, a clear message should reach masses that “they are safe”.

He was chairing a meeting regarding preparations for general elections 2024 held at Chief Secretary (CS) Punjab office on Wednesday. CS Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Inspector General Police Dr Usman Anwar, Secretary Local Government Dr Ahmed Javed Qazi, Special Secretary Interior Fazlur Rehman, representatives of other law enforcement departments also attended the meeting.

The minister emphasised extraordinary coordination among departments and urged sharing of data between provincial and federal authorities in line with preparations for providing a conducive environment to the public.

He also directed the departments to focus on social media and prepare themselves to counter any type of fake news during and after election process; a comprehensive strategy should be chalked out in this regard so that any type of anarchy be avoided, he added.

The Punjab chief secretary said they were providing full support to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for conducting free, fair and transparent elections and administrative officers had been directed to ensure the best arrangements, and a handbook had been prepared to guide the staff performing the election duties at every district, the chief secretary added.

IGP Punjab Dr Usman Anwar gave a detailed briefing on security arrangements for general elections. He said some 49,817 polling stations had been set up in 34,228 buildings. “Every polling station will have three personnel while six-layer security would be provided to each polling station with deployment of 147,800 personnel in the province, while extraordinary arrangements would be made for sensitive polling stations,” he added.

The meeting was told that the first phase of training for polling staff had been completed, while the second phase was in process. Installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras had been completed, special election cell and control room had been formed, and district hand book with important phone number would be available with all deputy commissioners in case of internet failure. The federal minister assured the Punjab government representatives of full support from the federal government regarding general election.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024