Finance Minister Murad Ali Shah, in his budget speech, said street crimes and highway robberies were rampant in Karachi and rural Sindh, however the government had succeeded in improving law and order in the province with support from its coalition partners.

He said the new budget for police was 131% increase in budgetary allocation for police in last four years from Rs17.02 billion in 2007-08 to Rs39.3 billion in 2012-13. “President Asif Ali Zardari has announced Rs5billion package for Sindh Police to procure Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC), transport, arms and ammunition to strengthen police capacity to curb crime.”

Minister said a video surveillance system at a cost of Rs690 million in Karachi had been launched through which police had acquired state-of-the-art technology to monitor movement on main roads and streets round the clock.

While, a total of 4,444 constables have been recruited who had undergone rigorous ‘Elite Course Training’.

Other measures taken by the government to improve law and order include setting up a Rapid Response Force (RRF) comprising 1000 personnel to respond to major acts of terrorism. Special Security Unit comprising 2000 personnel has been created to respond to threats to high value targets.

Minister said 700 police mobile vans have already been replaced with new vehicles.