PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman Imran Khan on Saturday launched dispute resolution committees with a view to dispense quick and cheap justice through local notables to people in the province.

Speaking to media persons at the Gulberg police station in Cantonment where he launched the system, the PTI chief said that it was like a jury or jirga where the people took their disputes for resolution out of police stations and courts. The DRC will comprise people of good reputation and hear the warring groups to resolve their disputes without subjecting them to the police and courts hassles, he said.

“It saves the time and money of the people which they pay in lieu of hiring lawyers besides other expenses,” he said.

“We just saw a procedure where local DRC members sat with two parties who had feud over some matter for eight years, which was resolved quickly,” he said. The system has gained worldwide currency, especially in Pakistan where 110 million people didn’t have balanced food, he said.

Flanked by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and IGP Nasir Khan Durrani, Mr Khan said that the new system was very important for the rural people who were very poor and couldn’t afford expenses of court cases. “We want to benefit common people of the society through a transparent system,” he said.

He congratulated the chief minister for making the police department apolitical as the government didn’t intervene in professional matters. He said that in Sindh and Punjab the government used police against opponents. “Punjab police have lodged FIRs against me and Pervez Khattak on political grounds,” he said.

The PTI chairman said that the prevalent action of Rangers in Karachi was the result of political intervention which had rendered police force almost ineffective. He said that police had rendered sacrifices in the militancy-hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and despite lack of resources they had performed their duties.

“We are considering raising their salaries and imran launches dispute resolution committees introduction of reward system to motivate them. We have the knowledge of police’s bravery,” he said.

KP police is rapidly emerging as a model for other provinces because the government is committed to make it a real professional force. He said that the police were completely independent, they had their own system of recruitments, posting, etc and none of the office-bearers of the PTI-led coalition government had asked them for a favour.

He said that registration of online FIRs at the police stations and control rooms were other police reforms to ensure that the poor and aggrieved people get desired assistance. He also asked for displaying signboards in the cities asking the citizens to lodge complaints against police in case of any grievances.

He said that a new vehicle registration system was being introduced in the province under which identities of the drivers and particulars of vehicles would be obtained from the identity cards of the drivers.

He said that it was due to the efficiency of police that crime rate had gone down in 2015 despite a military campaign against miscreants in the nearby Fata.

Mr Khan also praised the installation of advanced gadgets and equipment at the Forensic Police Laboratory and said that the province had achieved high standards in forensic investigations. He said that the intelligence school established by police would enhance capabilities about intelligence gatherings and help in prevention of terrorism.

Later, he also spoke with the people directly from Radio Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and received complaints from them, mainly concerning the social sectors. The PTI chairman assured the callers that the government was brining reforms and was all set to make a New Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Mr Khan reiterated his stance that he would take the issue of election fraud to its logical conclusion and would inform the people about those who stole their mandate. He claimed that over 700,000 fake votes were cast in the 2013 general election by the PML-N, saying that PTI was close to proving it in the court that the polls were massively rigged.

Published in Dawn March 15th , 2015

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