LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that police have been given complete freedom to work; “for the first time in the history of Punjab, the police are performing their duties sans any political pressure and this has yielded good results”.
He expressed these views during his visit to the Central Police Office (CPO) here on Monday. Provincial Ministers Raja Basharat, Taimur Bhatti and Ansar Majeed Niazi, Special Assistant to Chief Minister Punjab Hasaan Khawar, Punjab Chief Secretary, ACS (Home), Principal Secretary to CM and Punjab Information Secretary were also present.
While addressing a meeting of senior police officers, the CM pointed out that police appointments have also been made on merit. He asked the police officers to hold regular open courts and added that they are accountable to the people and, above all, to Allah Almighty. “Provision of prompt relief to the victims is your foremost duty,” he stressed.
According to him, police officers should keep the doors of their offices open to the public. The RPOs and DPOs should conduct surprise visits to police stations in their respective jurisdictions and take action on any irregularities or violations of law. The culprits of the Anarkali blast would soon be brought to book.
The CM announced in-principle approval to employ two members of the families of the martyrs and explained that further steps would be taken in this regard keeping in view the legal requirements. He said that the scope of the Punjab Safe City Authority would be extended across the province. “In Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur, the command of Baloch Levies has been handed over to the police and more than 9,000 police personnel have been promoted,” he added.
The CM directed that promotion cases from Inspector to SP ranks should be dealt with expeditiously. “The government has given executive allowance to police officers and also increased it by restoring frozen allowance. Police have also been given 670 vehicles and 235 motorcycles in three years. An additional 825 vehicles are being provided for highway patrolling and 304 police stations are being given the status of special initiative police stations while 90 police stations have been converted into special initiative police stations,’ he added.
He said the Dolphin Force has been deployed in Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Multan and DG Khan. Police is making recruitments against 12,278 posts while the process of recruitment against 5,774 posts has been completed while 54-kanal land has been provided for CTD headquarters. The police training schools are being established in Sahiwal, Sargodha, Toba Tek Singh and DG Khan. Construction of Chiniot Police Lines will be completed this year and more land would also be provided for this project.
The CM disclosed that a school of public order would be set up to train anti-riot force and officials of other sections. “The establishment of the forensic lab has been approved for south Punjab while the collection centre would be set up at the district headquarters. Moreover, Rs 200 million has been allocated to establish the PEHEL 911 helpline. Additional IG has been posted in south Punjab and the prison vans have been upgraded and police will also be provided with more new vehicles,” he said.
He further said that investigation and follow up of cases should be made effective so that the oppressor is punished and justice is given to the oppressed. He said that the problems of overseas Pakistanis should be solved on a priority basis and IT should be used for the identification of crimes. The e-transfer and e-pension system should be introduced in the police department,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022