LAHORE, March 12: Finding its own security staff and police inadequate to meet the requirement, the Punjab government is going to engage a private agency for the protection of the civil secretariat.

At present the secretariat's own guards, along with a team of police's special branch, headed by a DSP, perform security duty mainly at the entry and exit gates.

Official sources informed Dawn on Wednesday that the need to engage a private security agency for protection of the secretariat had arisen because the existing security staff of the secretariat was trained to only regulate entry into the secretariat, besides they were easily overawed by influential people, having incapacity to enforce the security regime.

The firm to be engaged by the government would be expected to provide former Special Services Group (SSG) personnel of the army who could meet the existing security requirements because of their specialised training.

The sources hoped that the new guards would perform the duty professionally and help meet any security challenge.

However, they said, present arrangement of secretariat's own guards and the police posse would remain intact.

“We are approaching different leading security agencies and will soon select one that could fulfill our requirements,” they said.

The officials said the provincial government was also making arrangements for the internal security of the secretariat under which movement of visitors within its premises would also be restricted and checked through CCTV cameras. Right now one could move anywhere in the secretariat after managing to enter it.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday nearly 30 per cent of the secretariat employees were sent home because they could not produce their official cards at the main entry gate in the morning.

The step was taken after the authorities decided to allow entry to even the officers only after production of their official identity cards.

According to the decision, only official vehicles carrying the green number plates would be allowed entry into the secretariat.

Journalists producing their original official identity cards could enter the secretariat. And they would be given special stickers for their vehicles.

The administration also declared the Punjab Printing Press as the parking lot for the vehicles of the provincial government's transport pool for security reasons.

As a result, all the vehicles including those retrieved from the former cabinet members were shifted there.