LAHORE: In line with the Revised-National Action Plan (R-NAP), the Punjab government has constituted District Coordination Committees (DCCs) to undertake a host of actions, ranging from curbing smuggling, ensuring registration of madressahs (seminaries) as well as establishment of District Narrative Nerve Centres (DNNCs) to neutralising hostile narratives against the government.

In pursuance to the decision of the Central Apex Committee, presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the R-NAP had called for the constitution of DCCs, assigning several functions to these bodies, including execution of policy decisions to prevent extremism and terrorism and implement decisions made by the federal and provincial apex committees.

The Punjab home department has constituted and notified DCCs to be convened by the deputy commissioners (DCs) of the respective districts across the province.

Each committee, having members not less than BS-18 officers, comprises CCPO (for Lahore)/CPO/DPO; representatives of local formation; heads of all line departments; representatives of special branch, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), Intelligence Bureau (IB), Federal Intelligence Agency (FIA), Anti Narcotics Force (ANF), Inter Services Intelligence (ISI)(IW), Military Intelligence (MI); representatives of Customs (where required) and any other co-opted member as required.

The DCCs have been tasked with executing the policy decisions regarding the NAP and apex committee(s) to strengthen the security framework at the district level. The committees have been asked to implement and enforce security policies relating to the prevention of extremism, terrorism and other unlawful activities.

The respective DCCs have also been assigned the task of ensuring registration of madressahs with the relevant authorities, while implementing the NAP reforms for madrassah education, to bring all religious seminaries under regulatory oversight, leading to their contribution to national peace and security.

These committees have also been tasked with establishing District Narrative Nerve Centers (DNNC) to ensure that dissemination of any information aligns with the policies and narrative of the Punjab government.

The committees will be required to work with traditional and digital/ social media outlets to ensure widespread dissemination of government narratives and neutralise hostile narratives.

They will also develop and execute rapid-response strategies to manage disinformation, besides using tools to track public sentiment and disinformation campaigns, accordingly.

The committees have also been empowered to launch crackdowns on narcotics smuggling, power theft and other illegal activities. The committees have been ordered to target warehouses dealing in smuggled goods and non-custom paid (NCP) items, including vehicles.

The committees will also be required to shut down illegal petrol pumps and take action against unlawful settlements and unauthorised activities in peri-urban areas.

The committees are supposed to establish direct communication channel between district and provincial authorities for close coordination and liaison to maintain consistency and transparency in security issues and law enforcement. The DCCs will also monitor establishment of Safe Cities Authorities for enhanced real-time surveillance and monitoring to ensure effective law enforcement in all major cities of the province.

It has been made mandatory for the DCCs to meet at least once a month for coordination and to review the progress of ongoing operations, besides updating the Provincial Implementation Committee by sharing key insights.

Published in Dawn, January 7th, 2025