PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani has suggested end to disparity in the compensation package for the policemen killed in the line of duty across the country.

He also proposed legislation for the posting of policemen as guards of individuals and at different institutions.

The IGP told Dawn on Friday that the families of the policemen, who died doing duty, were given Rs3 million each in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but the amount was Rs10 million in Punjab.

IGP says coordinated efforts by security agencies must to maintain law and order in Peshawar

He said there should be a uniform compensation package for the countrywide police personnel.

“The sacrifices of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police for peace are matchless, so the compensation fixed for them under the Shuhada Package should be brought on a par with those in other provinces,” he said.

Durrani suggested the creation of an alternative post after the appointment of a relative to the post of a police official after the latter’s death in the line of duty.

He said if the proposal was accepted, senior personnel would not face delay in promotion, while the cases of those waiting for police job would remain unaffected.

“We have changed the past policy of recruitment in police. Now, all appointments are made to the force through the National Testing Service,” he said.

The IGP said merit policy had been adopted to make appointments on quota meant for the siblings of policemen killed in the line of duty.

To a question, he said Peshawar was surrounded by tribal regions and the border was so long that only coordinated efforts by the relevant law-enforcement agencies could help maintain the law and order situation there.

Durrani said Frontier Constabulary was meant to protect border areas and go after anti-state elements before their entering different cities.

He said police reforms had contributed a lot to the improvement of law and order situation in the province.

“Anti-social and anti-state elements are unable to find place to stay in the main population due to the strict implementation of different laws like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Restriction of Rented Buildings Act 2014, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Restriction of Hotel Businesses Act 2014 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Security of Sensitive and Vulnerable Establishments and Places Act 2014,” he said.

The IGP said the police alone couldn’t maintain law and order unless all segments of society discharged their respective responsibilities and extended cooperation to law-enforcement agencies for the purpose.

He stressed the need for legislation on the deployment of police guards for individuals and different institutions to avoid shortage of personnel for routine duty in different police stations.

Durrani said if individuals and institutions paid salary to police guards, the department would not suffer financially and instead, it would hire new personnel to meet the needs of police stations.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was short of around 50 senior officers and therefore, junior officers were appointed to different posts in consultations with the relevant RPOs and DPOs.

The IGP said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had taken the lead in legislation to maintain law and order, while other provinces had begun to follow suit.

He said unchecked cross-border movement by thousands of people on a daily basis was a permanent bother for the provincial police as the people had to come to Pakistan in connection with routine matters, especially for medical treatment, but there was no proper mechanism for permission and registration for them on Torkham border.

Durrani said for further improvement in the law and order situation, youths from tribal areas should be recruited in police, while ban should be slapped on the use of non-customs paid vehicles in Malakand division.

“If timely steps are not taken, smuggled vehicles with tampered chassis numbers will spread across the country and thus, leading to increase in crime rate,” he said.

The IGP said the appointment of tribal youths as special police officers in Bannu was a very successful experience.

He said the provincial government had approved PC-I for putting up new buildings of the recently established police training schools in the province, which played a key role in the building of capacity of police personnel.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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