12 July 2004	Monday	23 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

ISLAMABAD, July 11: President Pervez Musharraf would intervene soon to oversee the implementation of police reforms and the steps taken to address provinces' reservations on the Police Order.

The implementation of the Police Order, which was promulgated on August 14, 2002, has been delayed on various pretexts. During a meeting chaired by President Musharraf in January this year, the provinces had expressed reservations on some of the institutions proposed by the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) for the implementation of the order.

Former prime minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali had also attended the meeting held to iron out the differences between the NRB and the provinces. President Musharraf would now chair another meeting on the issue of police reforms to be held shortly, officials said.

Documents available to Dawn show the provinces have been expressing reservations since Lt-Gen (retd) Tanvir Hussain Naqvi had presented the first draft of the police order. The police reforms were later promulgated through an executive order, but the parliament has not yet held a threadbare debate on them.

The latest report on the subject prepared by the interior ministry, which was provided to the Senate, said, "So far the institutions proposed under the Police Order have not been established fully. The improvement in the police culture and the benefits of the new system would accrue once these are fully established."

The report of the interior ministry shows that the National Public Safety Commission, Provincial Public Safety Commissions, Police Complaint Authorities, Citizen-Police Liaison Committees and organizational and structural reforms have not been completed in the four provinces and at the federal level even after two years of the Police Order becoming effective.

A report finalized by the interior ministry on the status of implementation of police reforms shows the National Public Safety Commission envisioned in Police Order 2002 is yet to start functioning as six of its independent members have not been selected so far.

At the provincial level, the NWFP is the only exception which has established a Provincial Public Safety Commission. Establishment of the provincial commissions is pending at various stages in Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

In Punjab, the establishment of the Provincial Public Safety Commission has been delayed as the selection of six independent members is pending for want of nomination by Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi.

The Sindh government notified a selection panel under the chairmanship of Chief Justice of Sindh High Court on May 23, 2003 to select the six independent members of the Sindh Provincial Public Safety Commission.

No notification was communicated to the federal interior ministry about selection of the six independent members of the commission by the selection panel. A selection panel in Balochistan has recommended six names to the governor, but further action is still awaited.

The Capital Public Safety Commissions to be established in all the provincial capitals have met a similar fate of non-implementation. Latest interior ministry record shows that the Capital City Public Safety Commissions are still "under process" in Sindh, Punjab and NWFP while a chairperson has been elected for the Commission in Balochistan.

Similarly, official account shows that Police Complaint Authorities have not been established at the federal and the provincial levels. In Balochistan some initiative has been taken with the appointment of a chairperson of the proposed authority and recommendation of some names of its members.

Likewise, the Citizen-Police Liaison Committees have not been established in Punjab and the NWFP. In Karachi, the Committee is fully functional but in Balochistan, only the CPLC's chairman has been appointed so far.

The organizational and structural reforms of police is also moving at a snail's pace. In Punjab, the regions have not been created so far and the concerned police officials have moved the government for conversion of ranges into regions for administrative purposes. Moreover, the Capital City Police District has not been established in the Punjab.

For exercising the financial and administrative powers of Provincial Police Officers, the IGPs have been notified by the governments of NWFP, Punjab and Balochistan as ex-officio secretary to the provincial governments while Balochistan has empowered the PPO as per the spirit of the Police Order to make postings and transfers of the District Police Officers.

Sources said the government has allocated a sum of Rs14 billion for infrastructure improvement of law-enforcement agencies as part of the police reforms over the next ten years. A sum of Rs2.5 billion has already been allocated for implementation of the police reforms projects.