KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly standing committee on home affairs took an initiative on Wednesday to assist people in redressing their complaints against the indifferent attitude of police officials by making them accountable in the presence of the inspector general of police for failing to take action.

At the meeting held at a committee room of the assembly, chairman of the standing committee Syed Awais Qadir Shah took up cases of public interest, including kidnapping of girls, wrongful confinement and refusal to register an FIR, rape of a woman by an SHO, the death of a child during a raid in Ghotki, with Sindh police chief A.D. Khwaja. Talking to the media after the meeting, the committee chairman said that although law and order had improved, people should lodge their complaints with the committee in order to make the police accountable and people-friendly.

Mr Shah took serious notice of the Garhi Yaseen SHO who despite having been served with notices did not turn up at the meeting. The chairman asked the police chief to take action against the SHO and informed the committee about the action taken against him.

He also highlighted the need of taking due action against the committee members responsible for the illegal recruitment of 1,800 personnel in Sindh Reserve Police whose services were terminated on an order of the apex court.

Briefing the committee, IG Khwaja said that road travel during night in the interior of Sindh had been made quite safe. Apart from the targeted killings in which banned outfits such as Lashkar-i-Jhangvi was involved, no major terror incident had been reported during the past five months, the police chief said.

Talking about those killed in the line of duty, the police chief said that either compensation had been provided to their families along with the appointment of one of the heirs or the same was under process in most of the cases.Regarding illegal recruitment in the SRP of Sukkur and Hyderabad, IGP Khwaja said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the Establishment Division and the chief secretary of Sindh had been recommended to initiate action.

He referred to the ongoing practice of budget allocation to district police in which their requirement was not considered with the result that fuel and other expenditure crossed the limit in some district. He said recommendation had been made for budget allocation according to the needs of each district.

About the cash involved in the investigation of cases, the police chief said the practice had been done away with as all payments in future would be made through cross cheques.

The standing committee chairman was assisted by Pakistan Peoples Party lawmaker Ghulam Qadir Chandio, Muttahida Qaumi Movement legislator Mohammad Yusuf Shahwani and Home Secretary Jamal Mustafa Syed while the police side was represented by IGP Khwaja, SSPs from various districts and other officials at the meeting.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2016