KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the measures taken by the Pakistan Peoples Party government after coming to power in 2008 had not only improved the morale of the “demoralised” police force in Sindh but its performance and efficiency in Karachi had become more effective.

As per a directive of the apex court, the Sindh government had also taken up the implementation of the safe city project to complete it at the earliest, he said, adding that Pakistan had great potential to emerge as a prosperous nation provided every one of us started working with honesty and dedication.

The chief minister stated this while speaking to the participants of the 46th Specialised Training Programme here on Tuesday. There were 34 under-training police officers, including two from the Airport Security Force. Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Inspector General of Police Dr Kaleem Imam and others were also present.

He said before the PPP government the police were demoralised because of certain reasons, including targeted killing of policemen who had participated in the Karachi operation, lack of training and latest equipment and their poor salary structure. But after coming to power the provincial government improved the morale of the police by equipping them with the latest training, arms and ammunition, and enhancing their salary structure and compensation for shaheed policeman with a job for the heir of a shaheed and continuation of the salary of the martyr till his superannuation.

Mr Shah said: “These measures boosted confidence among the policemen and they participated in the targeted operation launched in the city under National Action Plan so efficiently that they worked out major terrorist cases such as Safoora incident.”

Mr Shah said although the police had been working effectively in the city, “we had requested the federal government for the deployment of the Rangers and gave them special powers” so that police and Rangers with the assistance of other law enforcement agencies could work jointly against terrorists and other criminals which produced encouraging results in restoring peace to Karachi.

The chief minister lauded the army for giving latest training to policemen. The credit for the successful Karachi operation went to the police, Rangers and intelligence agencies, he said. The CM recalled that before the NAP implementation Karachi, declared the sixth most dangerous city, had now come down to 76th,” which was the joint work of the police, Rangers and intelligence agencies.

He urged the under-training policemen of the Specialised Training Programme to work with commitment and dedication when they join field service and make all-out efforts to get justice from courts by preparing best cases.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2019