LAHORE: In order to boost police morale, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved a summary for upgrading low-ranking staff that will benefit approximately 180,000 personnel in the province.

The beneficiaries will be constables, exemptee head-constables, head-constables and assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) who will get substantial financial benefits and privileges.

The summary was sent to the chief minister on Aug 18 by a committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khwaja for a final decision.

Move to boost morale of the force to fight crime

An official privy to the development told Dawn the CM had accorded approval to the summary, allowing upgrade of 126,809 constables from basic pay scale (BPS) 5 to BPS-7; some 12,681 exemptee head constables from BPS-7 to BPS-9; 18,860 head constables from BPS-7 to BPS-9 and 13,004 ASIs from BPS-9 to BPS-11.

The official said Punjab, the biggest province of the country in terms of population, had the largest police force that comprised 179,921 personnel working in nine regions. He said the annual crime profile of Punjab had reached 383,379 -- the largest compared to other provinces.

The rising population, worsening economic conditions, unemployment, economic disparities, terrorism and deteriorating social fabric had left adverse impact on the crime situation. Keeping in view the high number of reported crimes, a sense had prevailed among police authorities that the force needed a `mega’ relief to boost its morale, the official said.

He further said the chief minister also approved changes to nomenclature for C-II constables, adding the summary recommended that in order to make things clear, the nomenclature of exemptee head constables should now be C-II constables.

The committee has also proposed that promotion prospects should be increased for a major chunk of the constable force. It has recommended that the officers (constables) who performed exceptionally in core policy functions be put on a list maintained after following the laid-down procedure.

“Later, they will be promoted to exemptee head constable as per the given procedure and such officers shall get salary advantage of BPS-9 after promotion,” the official said.

He said a notification was likely to be issued by Punjab Inspector General Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera in a couple of days.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2016