KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday allocated Rs210.573 billion for law and order, including security, law enforcement, prisons and prosecution, in the provincial budget for the financial year 2026-27.

In the outgoing fiscal year, the government had allocated Rs210bn and the current budget shows an increase of 2.7 per cent.

According to budget documents, the proposed Rs210.573bn budget in the head of law and order has a substantial portion for police, underscoring the government’s prioritisation of security in the provincial capital, which continues to face challenges ranging from street crime to high-profile incidents.

Presenting the Sindh Budget 2026-27 in the Sindh Assembly, the chief minister said Rs7.3bn had been allocated for development initiatives aimed at strengthening law and order and the policing network across the province.

He claimed major achievements for his government in the outgoing fiscal giving credit to policy of strengthening “the law and order and policing network of the province”, which helped in “effective policing and intelligence-led operations”.

“It helped in effective policing and intelligence-led operations which resulted in a substantial reduction in crime. In Karachi, vehicular theft and snatching declined by 67 per cent while violent street robberies decreased by 54pc with the overall crime detection rate improving to 81pc.”

The government, he said, continued its decisive action against criminal networks operating in the Katcha areas.

During the current fiscal year, Rs872 million was utilised on anti-dacoit operations in Shikarpur, Kashmore and Ghotki which resulted in 141 encounters, killing of 48 dacoits, arrest of 140 and 475 surrendering under the government’s surrender policy, while approximately 115,000 acres of Katcha were cleared of criminal control.

“Significant progress has also been achieved in counter-terrorism,” said CM Shah. “The CTD Fusion Centre has been fully operationalised with an investment of Rs772 million, while Phase-II is underway. The centre processed 952 digital evidences, analysed 164 CCTV and video evidences, strengthened intelligence-led investigations and contributed to the neutralisation of 210 terrorists and arrest of high-value suspects. As a result of these efforts, Sindh has remained largely free from major terrorist incidents since late 2024 to date.”

The government, he said, also introduced major technology-driven traffic management reforms.

The AI-based Faceless E-Ticketing System generated over 1.07 million e-tickets and collected Rs840.7 million in fines. These reforms contributed to a 32 per cent reduction in traffic accidents, 31pc reduction in fatalities and 39pc reduction in injuries, compared with the previous year.

“The Safe City surveillance network exceeded its target with 1,325 smart cameras installed, including facial recognition and automatic number plate recognition systems,” added the CM.

Published in Dawn, June 18th, 2026