RAWALPINDI: The police here want to increase its workers’ welfare fund not from any government funding but by doubling the medical fitness test fee from the applicants for driving licences.

Sources in the police said the traffic police would collect the fee from the citizens seeking driving licences. They said 25 per cent of the money so collected would directly go to the regional police Officer (RPO)’s welfare fund.

The driving fee, traffic rule violation fines and medical fitness examination fee are collected by the traffic police. But the sources said the police did not seek an approval from the Punjab government or the home department to utilise the 25 per cent of the medical fitness test fee.

“We collect fees from the applicants but only driving licence fee is transferred to the government kitty and the others are utilised by the police department,” City Traffic Officer (CTO) Khuram Shoaib Janbaz told Dawn.

25pc of the money will go to workers’ welfare fund

The traffic police have been considering increasing the medical fitness fee from Rs100 to Rs200.

Since 2009, the traffic police have been charging the applicants Rs100 as the medical fitness fee. The amount is divided among three stakeholders - the doctor concerned, the CTO and the city police officer.

The sources said an internal standard operating procedure was likely to be issued by the police soon. Now it is being proposed to also include the regional police officer (RPO) among the recipients of the amount.

When Dr Tariq Mehmood of the police hospital was contacted, he said the medical fitness fee for the applicants seeking driving licences was increased from Rs50 to Rs100 in 2009 by the then RPO Nasir Khan Durrani.

He said the fee collected from each applicant was divided among three stakeholders.

The doctor said since he was not an employee of the police department and was on the payroll of the District Headquarters Hospital, it was the duty of the police employee associated with him to deposit the share of the CTO and CPO in their accounts.

CTO Janbaz said the doctor was not getting salary from the police department and was paid the fee for carrying out the medical fitness examination of the applicants.

Sometimes the applicants have to pay Rs300 to Rs500 to a private hospital to get their medical fitness report when the doctor deputed by the traffic police was not available.

The CTO confirmed that the traffic police were considering increasing the medical examination fee.

“The increase could be by 50 to 100 per cent. But the decision in this regard is yet to be taken,” he said, adding the fine money collected from the vehicle lifter was used by the traffic police on the welfare of the wardens.

However, it is not mandatory for the applicants of driving licence to get the medical fitness report from the police doctor. The medical fitness certificate from any certified doctor or government hospital is acceptable.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2014