April 7, 2003	Monday	Safar 4, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, April 6: The pay structure of police department needs to be revised to improve its performance.

This recommendation was made at the plenary and closing session of a three-day seminar on ‘media and governance’, organized by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) at Bhurban on Saturday.

At the closing session of the orientation seminar, that was attended by 150 journalists from the print and electronic media, various groups were formed to put forward their recommendations.

The group discussing police reforms was of the view that low pay structure was the main reason behind poor performance of the department.

The participants of the group asked the NRB team led by its chairman, Daniyal Aziz, to modify the pay structure of the police on the lines of armed forces of the country.

They said the existing service structure especially for the low ranking police officials was not enough for them to serve with honesty.

The policemen remain on duty round the clock, get meagre salary, poor accommodation, no food and medical facilities which were offered to the armed forces personnel, they added.

Over the years, they said, a number of initiatives were undertaken by the people at the helm of affairs, however, the basic problem adversely affecting the performance of the police departments remained unattended.

Therefore, any reform had not been able to bring about the desired results and even after spending billions of rupees to improve the efficiency of police, things remained unchanged, they argued.

They said during such initiatives, people, who were the main stakeholder in the process, had never been asked to present their suggestions.

The group also recommended that uniform of the police departments should also be changed to give it a people-friendly look.

As far as the interaction between police and media was concerned, the group was of the view that the department needed a public relation officer.

The group recommended that a separate subject on ‘behaviour improvement’ be included in the police training institution manuals. They said there should be more women police stations as rate of violence against women was on the rise in the society.

In the end, responding to these recommendations, the NRB chief said the bureau would consider these suggestions to further improve the performance of police department.

He said media had been a key player in any society for the effective implementation of such reforms. “I am hopeful that with the passage of time a very healthy relationship will be developed between NRB and the media,” Mr Aziz added.