–Model police stations to be given revolving fund of Rs50,000 for day to day expenditures
–Establishment of separate cadre of ghazis on the pattern of shaheed cadre on the cards
–Transgenrders to be allocated quota for recruitment in all government departments including police, Sindh CM says
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah on Thursday announced his historic and reformative decision to usher in new reforms including the establishment of model stations, pay scales at par with Punjab for policemen, creation of ghazis in police and allocating a special quota for transgenders in government service.
He was presiding over a high meeting on police matters here at the CM House. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Kaleem Imam, Home Secretary Kazi Kabir, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister (PSCM) Sajid Jamal Abro, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Training Aftab Pathan, AIG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon, Secretary Finance Hassan Naqvi and senior officers of CPO.
At the initiation of the meeting, AIG Memon told the chief minister that most of the 108 police stations in the city were redundant in the sense that they are located on nullahs.
The chief minister suggested that two police stations located within the same periphery of the city should be merged together and declared a model police station.
He approved the first model police station in the city by amalgamating Boating Basin into Clifton police. The station would have a senior station house officer (SHO) with the authoritative powers of a Designated Detention Officer (DDO). The SHO would be given a revolving fund of Rs50,000 to meet day to day expenditures whereas an accountant would keep a record of the expenditures so that the same amount is reimbursed on depletion.
On Memon’s request, the Sindh CM approved the provision of new vehicles for model police stations.
He directed Memon to only post well-reputed, well-behaved, and well-trained police force to the model police station as he intended to replicate the model if it produced positive results. “They will have to do the drill every morning to remain alert,” he added.
Shah was apprised of 2,000 policemen who have been maimed or blinded in the line of duty after which he directed for the creation of a separate cadre of ghazis on the pattern of shaheed cadre as well as a working paper for the cabinet. “The government will give them enough amount along with jobs in the police department to lead respectable lives with their families,” he said while observing that those injured in the line of duty were the state’s responsibility.
The issue of payscale was brought up again when Shah was apprised about inequalities between police departments of different provinces. It was highlighted that while constables, head constables and ASI’s in Punjab were in grades, BS-7. Bs-9 and BS-11, the same ranks were in grade BS-5, BS-7 and BS-9 respectively in Sindh.
The Sindh CM, while promising to bring the provincial police force at par with their counterparts in Punjab, directed the IG police to prepare a summary and send him for formal approval. “Why should our policemen of lower cadre suffer,” he said.
Further, IGP Kaleem told the chief minister that around 8,000 to 10,000 policemen retire from service every year, which had left 30,000 vacant positions all over the province. At this, the chief minister directed him to establish a permanent selection centre where recruitment continues round the year. He advised recruiting locals wherever vacancies emerged.
The CM was then briefed on the need for a new police range. He approved a proposal in this regard while directing that a summary be presented for the purpose in the next cabinet meeting.
Moreover, the chief minister, while observing that transgenders are the most neglected and ignored members of our society, said that the government must allocate a reasonable quota for their recruitment in all government departments including the police.
He directed Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Shah to prepare a working paper for the cabinet in this regard so that allocation of a sustained amount of jobs could be allocated for transgenders. “I want to bring transgenders into the mainstream so that they have an opportunity to become useful members of society”, he said while directing the chief secretary to make necessary amendments in the rules so that transgenders could be allowed to compete for civil service.
The chief minister also pointed out that a large number of police guards have been assigned to unauthorised persons. “Similarly, undeserving notables have been given police guards. I have calculated that around Rs600,000 were spent on salaries and other perks of the gunmen who protect others. Therefore, a threat assessment committee will be notified for giving police guards to genuine people only,” he said.
Shah concluded by expressing hope of the police performing with honesty and dedication now as he had uplifted their morale and confidence by providing them with the latest weaponry, gadgets and incentives.