May 07, 2007	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 19, 1428

LAHORE, May 6: The Punjab government has not so far been able to find a legal justification or career path for the traffic wardens who have been put on trial duty on Lahore roads after a six-month training. They are formally taking charge of traffic control today.

“The wardens have been recruited merely on an executive order and they need to be given some legal justification and a proper career ladder,” official sources said on Sunday, claiming that nothing had so far been done in this regard.

The wardens were recruited in the rank of sub-inspectors under directions by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi after he had vetoed a plan to recruit BA-pass constables for modernising traffic police in five big cities in the province.

Since sub-inspectors could not be directly recruited under the Police Order 2002, they were named wardens without mentioning as to which department they belonged.

Official sources said at present the wardens were working under the Punjab police, but this was not lawful as the Police Order 2002 did not provide for their posts.

Their only justification was the executive authority of the province under which they were working. This was not legal as the executive authority could not create any post.

But since police were a uniform force, the induction of wardens in the department required a solid legal justification which at present did not exist.

They said the wardens could not either be termed the police department’s ministerial staff because it did have its own posts like clerks and superintendents, and service rules which were different from those of the regular police.

Sources said right now there were two options — one is to absorb the wardens into the police department and the other is to declare them independent police like motorway and railway police.

The first option did not look viable as it would require an amendment to the Police Order. And as far as the second option was concerned, it would require raising a new department to run the traffic police.