KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday approved allocation of Rs2.2 billion for the purchase of weapons and equipment from Pakistan Army and special training of police personnel to be given by highly professional trainers of the army and other countries.

He also sanctioned release of Rs500 million for disbursement among the legal heirs of deceased policemen.These approvals were given by the chief minister while presiding over a meeting on issues being faced by police department.

It was decided at the meeting that out of Rs2.2 billion, Rs1.9 billion would be spent on the purchase of 30,000 SMGs and other modern equipment from the army. The remaining Rs300 million would be utilised for the training of 2,500 policemen to be imparted by highly professional trainers of army and from other countries.

The chief minister said the provincial police must be made capable of dealing with any kind of situation.

The meeting was attended among others by IG Police A.D. Khwaja, Additional IG Karachi Mushtaq Maher, Principal Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi and Home Secretary Riaz Hussain.

The chief minister said special attention was being given to the capacity building of police. “I want to build capacity of Sindh police by giving them special training and providing them all the required facilities,” he said.

Mr Shah also directed the police chief to submit a proposal to upgrade all the police training centres. In the first phase, he said, three training centres — Razakabad, Shahdadpur and Saeedabad — should be upgraded. He said the faculty of the training centres must be improved by acquiring the services of highly professional trainers of Pakistan Army and from abroad. “Our police is not doing an ordinary work but special training is required now to deal with terrorists, hitmen and other such criminals,” he said.Sindh police chief A.D. Khwaja told the chief minister that army chief General Raheel Sharif during a meeting in Karachi had assured the police that latest equipment could be provided to them whenever they needed. He said the Pakistan Army would provide SMGs to the police at a subsidized rate.

Deciding a case of deceased policemen, the chief minister approved the release of Rs500 million for onward disbursement among the heirs of the deceased policemen.

He also directed the police chief to ensure that 30 police facilitation centres, one in each district headquarters, were made functional by the end of this financial year.

The chief minister also directed the police chief to devise a strategy to spread awareness among motorcyclists about the importance of helmets. “Once awareness is created then take strict action against those who defy the instructions,” he said. Mr Shah said he had seen youngsters performing motorbike stunts on main roads particularly on weekends. This dangerous practice must be stopped, he added.

The chief minister said the bike companies could be asked to launch schemes to offer two helmets with the sale of each motorbike. “There should be helmets for children and women also,” he said.

The police chief was further directed to take action against the use of hooters, police lights and heavy lights on private vehicles.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2016