LAHORE – Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif announced establishment of a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) in the province at a meeting of Punjab Security Board at Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Sunday. The meeting lasted more than three hours.
The CM said terrorism was the biggest impediment in the way of progress and prosperity and there is a need for making rapid progress for rooting out this menace from the society. He said that reforming the criminal justice system was essential to take criminals to task.
Senior adviser Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, assembly members Zaeem Qadri, Col (r) Shujja Khanzada, Raza Ali Gillani, advisor Jehanzaib Burki, chief Secretary, home secretary, inspector general (IG) of police and additional IG Elite were also present.
The meeting reviewed law and order situation in the province, measures to counter and the provision of basic facilities in backward areas while a number of decisions were also taken for civic peace maintenance and CTD’s efficiency improvement.
The chief minister issued instructions for setting up a committee headed by the Law Minister to submit recommendations for reforming the criminal justice system reformation.
The committee will also consult the departments concerned. The CM said that the CTD officers and staffs’ posting tenure should be fixed and federal government should be contacted for declaring officers’ field posting.
The additional IG said 564 officers had attended basic intelligence courses so far while other modern courses were also being arranged. He said that the department had prepared a comprehensive beat book.
The CM said promotion of quality education and provision of basic amenities in backward areas was vital for elimination of extremism
and terrorism.
He said the Daanish School Project had been launched in South Punjab to provide modern educational facilities to the poor.
The CM said six mobile health units had been provided to Southern Punjab’s backward areas to provide medical facilities at people’s doorsteps.
He said 50 more mobile health units would be imported and provided to all tehsils. He said a veterinary university and a new hospital were being set up in Bahawalpur while four new medical colleges would be established in the province.
He said five farms over 500 acre land had been completed in Cholistan and special attention was being paid to the promotion of vocational education. He said the Punjab Vocational Training Council had completed all tehsils’s survey for determining the training needs in various skills.
Chief Secretary Nasir Mehmood Khosa briefed the CM on the development projects in backward areas.
CTD to be set up to reform criminal justice
