ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to revive the National Public Safety Commission (NSPC) to improve performance of police and other security agencies working under the ambit of the federal government for better implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) against terrorism and extremism, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Interior.

He told Dawn on Sunday that a meeting recently held in the National Police Bureau (NPB) with a view to discuss pros and cons of the proposed revival of the commission and it was decided that a summary would be sent to the interior ministry for further consideration.

“We are sending a summary to the interior ministry seeking revival of the National Public Safety Commission,” said a senior official of the NPB.

It has been learnt that the summary will also be sent to the Law Division for legal opinion that how provincial police could be on board by NPSC after the 18th Amendment in the Constitution, under which policing and law and order has become a provincial subject.

The NPSC, an apex oversight body, was formed by the Musharraf government under the Police Order, 2002, to review the overall law and order situation and terrorism and give suggestions to the government for overcoming the problems. However, it has been ineffective since the establishment of the present government despite the fact that the country is facing worst terrorism.

The commission survived during the tenure of the PPP government, but remained ineffective as it worked only with four out of total 12 members. These four members who worked till 2010 were former interior minister Moiuddin Haider, Mohammad Abbas Khan, Dr Sabiha Hassan Syed and Advocate Sarkar Abbas.

The commission had fully worked during the Musharraf regime. The previous PPP government did not appoint its six members from the parliament and two from the civic society. During the tenure of the present government the commission remained completely abandoned.

The commission has a mandate to check police access on the complaints of people and to address other issues related to the safety and protection of people.

According to the Police Order, 2002, the duty of the NPSC is to oversee the functioning of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Pakistan Railways Police, the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Frontier Constabulary (FC), Pakistan Motorway and Highway Police (M&HP), any other federal law-enforcement agency and the anti-smuggling wing of Customs exercising police powers.

The commission recommends the federal government panels of three police officers for the appointment of Capital City Police Officer for Islamabad and for the appointment of head of FIA, Pakistan Railways Police, PM&HP and FC.

It oversees implementation of plans prepared by heads of the respective law enforcement agencies and approved and published by the government, setting out arrangements for achieving objectives during the year.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2017