LAHORE: Senior member of the Special Monitoring Unit (SMU) on law and order, Salman Sufi, who spearheaded various reform initiatives in Punjab since becoming part of the unit in 2014, has been de-notified from his post.

Mr Sufi also served as director general of the Chief Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit (SRU) till June 30 consequent to which his contract was not extended by the interim government.

Since 2014, Mr Sufi worked voluntarily for the SMU to implement various reforms in fields such as women’s empowerment, minority rights, graveyard reforms, law and order and excise and taxation. The law and order wing was renamed Strategic Reforms Unit in August 2016.

He was instrumental in the passage of the Punjab Protection of Women against Violence Act 2016, established the Violence against Women Centres, created Punjab Women Protection Authority, started the Women-on-Wheels campaign in collaboration with Punjab police and district administration providing free motorcycle training and subsidised bikes in Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan and Rawalpindi.

He also led the SRU to draft and include chapters on gender sensitisation in Pakistan Studies textbooks for classes IX to XII, among several other initiatives.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2018