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KARACHI The police department has sought an increase of almost nine billion rupees in its annual budget, with most of the funds being allocated for planned increases in policemen's salaries, Dawn has learnt.
In its annual pre-budget proposal, the police department has sought Rs30 billion in total, compared to Rs21.5 billion last year.
Speaking to Dawn, Capital City Police Officer Waseem Ahmed maintained that the increase had been sought in order to attract more human resources so that the 'existing force could be in a better position to concentrate on its work, rather than financial woes'.
'Young blood would only be willing to join the department if the police have something to offer in terms of better remuneration,' Mr Ahmed observed.
Operational expenses in the budget account for just 19.15 per cent of funds, while the remaining 80.85 per cent have been allocated for employees-related expenses, according to last year's official statistics.
AIG Finance Dost Ali Baloch, who has been managing the finances of the Sindh Police for the last several years, said the government had allocated Rs2 billion for development and operating expenses — a new feature.
Mr Baloch said that the government had been generous in the last financial year as far as allocation of funds was concerned, and that it was up to the department to use the funds properly.
Officials said a major chunk of the budget was consumed by non-development expenditure, such as electricity bills. They said a substantial amount was allocated for these bills, in excess of the requirement, and when the surplus was reimbursed to the Sindh finance department at the end of the financial year, it was lauded as an 'achievement' by the finance department.
The most significant change in the new budget is the planned increase in the salaries of police personnel. Sindh is apparently set to adopt the Punjab model, envisaging an increase in police salary cost for the year of Rs8.5 billion.
It is expected that the monthly salary of police constables will be raised to Rs17,500, from the present level of around Rs10,000.
A similar revision in the salaries of officers is also on the cards.
An increase in the amount of compensation offered to the families of officers who lose their lives in the line of duty is also planned.
CCPO Waseem Ahmed said the amount was being raised to Rs2 million, from the current level of Rs500,000. Family members of policemen killed while on duty would also be given pieces of land, the CCPO added.
At present, a job in the police department is offered to the next of kin of the killed policeman, while widows continue to receive the salaries of their deceased husbands until the date of retirement of the deceased.
Regarding other major allocations in the forthcoming budget, the AIG Finance said that the government had allocated Rs500 million for transport and Rs500 million for salary, equipment and ammunition. Another Rs500 million was being allocated for a planned security camera system for the city, he added.
In addition, seven armored personal carriers (APCs) for urban centres and two chained APCs for the interior of Sindh were also in the pipeline and their delivery was due soon, he added.
The two chained APCs currently being used in the interior of Sindh had been used for 10 years, and the AIG was confident that the two new vehicles would be able to cover the 'katcha' land in the interior. He pointed out that one vehicle cost Rs40 million.
The AIG also asserted that the police were upgrading vehicles being used around the city of Karachi, with 140 new cars being acquired to replace old pickup trucks. He said the new cars were equipped with tracker devices, in order to check their misuse.
The AIG complained that in the past the police department was plagued with 'unjustified cuts in operating budget allocations, insufficient allocation for operating expenses and no allocation at all for PPO's reserve fund'. He said this left no room for any sort of emergency funding.
He added that there was an unjustified ban on the use of leftover funds in one head of expenditure for another purpose.
Similarly, officers said there had been non-payment of rewards, due to lengthy procedures and non-allocation in budgets.
There was no provision for officers and men appointed in 2008 in the budget book of 2007-08, the officers said.
Officials also complained that the budget allocation for fuel was 'far less than the entitlement fixed by the finance department'.
They said the total amount fixed by the finance department was Rs993 million, of which Rs524 million was allocated in last year's budget.
