PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has been paying salary to the Khasadar Force, which it inherited from the federal government after the merger of the erstwhile Fata with the province, through a manual system due to the unavailability of the relevant digital record.

Sources in the home and tribal affairs department told Dawn that the monthly salary budget of the Khasadar Force was over Rs700 million, which was disbursed through a manual system.

They said unlike other government employees, the automated record of the Khasadar Force personnel had not been maintained.

Police spokesman says headcount under way to make workforce lists

The provincial government had inducted 16,053 khasadars, an unskilled and untrained force for policing in the defunct Fata, in the KP Police in April last. The Levies and Khasadar forces had become part of the police department after the enforcement of two separate laws last month.

The strength of the Levies Force in merged districts is 11,918, whose services have already been regularised. The current budget of the Levies and Khasadar forces on account of salary payment is Rs8.6 billion.

The Khasadar force was raised to fulfil the collective and territorial responsibilities, including protection of strategic roads.

Unlike Levies, khasadars have something of a hereditary right — an asset, which can be bought, sold or transferred among inhabitants of the respective tribes or sub-tribes.

The value of a khasadar does not lie in his individual efficiency and instead, it is to the extent that he is a representative of his tribe. The khasadars are paid salary through a stipend provided directly to the tribe. Before the Fata-KP merger, the Ministry of State and Frontier Region paid Khasadars through the respective political agents.

Any member of the family could turn up to perform duty turn by turn and a single individual is not responsible for it. The salary has to be distributed to the family.

An inquiry conducted by senior officials in the secretariat for the defunct Fata into the Khasadar Force in South Waziristan in 2018 revealed that nearly 50 per cent of the khasadars had died but their salaries were regularly drawn by their kith and kin.

A source said the khasadars employed in 1960s had either died or attained the age of retirement or they did not possess CNICs, so records could not be maintained.

He said the disbursement of billions of rupees through a manual system provided room for irregularities.

An official termed the Khasadar Force a liability for the police department.

“The KP police do not have the desire to take over or integrate such a huge untrained force,” he said.

After the enforcement of the law, the respective district police officer has been designated as the disbursement officer to pay salary to khasadars through manual system instead of payment through the Accountant General Office.

An official said the police department paid Rs210.04 million to khasadars in South Waziristan tribal district on account of salary every month, Rs110 million in North Waziristan, Rs84.04 million in Khyber, Rs67 million in Kurram, Rs49 million in Orakzai, Rs71 million in Bajaur and Rs90 million in Mohmand.

The Khasadar Force is also operating in six subdivisions of the defunct Fata and Rs7.2 million is released to the workforce in Peshawar subdivision, Rs2.6 million in Kohat, Rs1.4 million in Lakki Marwat, Rs2.4 million in Bannu, Rs12 million in Dera Ismail Khan and Rs1.9 million in Tank.

The khasadars have been deployed at the secretariat for merged tribal districts in Peshawar with their salary budget coming to Rs1.1 million per month.

When approached, a spokesperson for the police department, Shahzada Kokab Farooq, said the affairs of the Khasadar Force were being streamlined on the directives of the provincial cabinet.

He said in its last meeting, the cabinet had directed the home, administration and police departments and authorities in merged districts to complete the task in six weeks.

The spokesperson said the headcount of khasadars was being conducted to make workforce lists.

He said after headcount and compilation of the personal record of individuals, the police department would be able to shift the entire record of the force from the manual system to the automated system.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2019

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