April 17, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 10, 1429

KARACHI, April 16: Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfikar Mirza announced on Wednesday a welfare package for the provincial police that included a raise in basic salaries and an enhanced reward money for the families of the personnel killed in the line of duty.

Accompanied by Inspector General Shoaib Suddle and Deputy Inspector General Waseem Ahmed, Dr Mirza told a crowded press conference at the Central Police Office that the package was aimed at bringing the emoluments and facilities offered to the Sindh Police on a par with that of the Punjab Police.

“It is my responsibility to guarantee the welfare of the police force, which is our major tool to improve the law and order in society,” he said, observing that the Sindh police personnel lacked several vital facilities.

He said it was the government’s priority to control street crimes, highway robberies and kidnappings for ransom.

The minister said effective policing and street crime control were the government’s top priorities but the strength of the force was not sufficient to meet the requirements. “In London, there is one policeman for 150 people (1:150) while the ratio in Sindh is 1:550 and in Punjab it is 1:275,” he pointed out.

He said as many as 8,500 vacancies in the police department would be advertised in newspapers soon to enhance the personnel strength. “We will open another 10,000 vacancies on divisional and district levels very shortly to fill the gap,” he added.

Dr Mirza said there was a wide gap between the salaries of police personnel in Sindh and their counterparts in Punjab.

He announced an immediate raise of Rs500 per month in the salaries of the Sindh police personnel.

In Punjab, he said, an amount of Rs500,000 was paid as compensation to the family of a martyred policeman but the amount in Sindh was Rs300,000. He announced that the compensation amount was being made equal.

He said that the widow of a police personnel killed in the line of duty would continue to get the salary of the deceased till the date of his retirement. “Besides, one of his family members will be given a job in the police department,” he added.

Dr Mirza also announced fixing of policemen’s duty time at 12 hours, instead of the current 16 hours. “It will be curtailed further to eight hours after the recruitment of the first batch of policemen,” he added.

He acclaimed the professionalism shown by IG Dr Shoaib Suddle in the discharge of his duties, and remarked that the province was fortunate to have such a police chief.

The minister said it was one of his main responsibilities to modernise the police.

He was of the view that unemployment was a major reason behind the growing crimes. “The new chief minister is chalking out a plan to provide employment to the jobless youth with a view to contain the tendency,” he added.