KARACHI, April 26 Perhaps one of the reasons for the unsatisfactory law and order situation prevailing in Sindh is that members of the province's police force are overworked and underpaid. Though this ground reality has often been repeated, Sindh Home Minister Dr Zulfiqar Ali Mirza recently told the Sindh Assembly that police constables - the base of the force - were working 12-14 hours a day and that there was no proper budgetary allocation for paying them overtime allowance.
He stated this in a written reply submitted during April 20's sitting of the house, in which the affairs of the home and jails departments came under scrutiny in question hour.
Arif Mustafa Jatoi had asked the home minister for “the overtime allowance (amount per hour) paid to constables who exceed the normal duty hours set for a police constable, along with the number of hours a constable is expected to be on normal duty per day”.
In his written reply Dr Mirza stated “The normal duty hours per day for a constable are eight hours but due to a shortage of police constables, they are performing 12-14 hours duty per day.” He added that “There is no budgetary sanction for paying overtime allowance by the finance department. However, a sum of Rs2,000 (per month) is paid as special allowance to compensate the overtime payment.”
Humera Alwani had sent a query asking for the number of women confined in Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi jails, as well as if the government intended to release the women arrested in Zina (Hudood) cases.
Minister for Jails Haji Muzaffar Ali Shujra replied that 17 women were confined in Sukkur jail, 35 in Hyderabad and 116 in Karachi. He added that no plan was in the works to free women prisoners in jail for Hudood offences.
Ms Alwani asked the home minister for the number of women in Darul Aman, as well as if it was true that vehicles were not being provided to the women, which was resulting in the cases not being expedited. “At present there are 71 women along with their 21 children accommodated at Darul Aman. According to the Sindh police, vehicles are provided (on a timely basis) whenever requested by the superintendent in-charge,” replied Dr Mirza.
Arif Jatoi had asked for the steps being taken for the protection of human rights of minorities in the province. Among several steps listed, the home minister said the Sindh government has allocated a grant of Rs100 million for the welfare of minorities during fiscal year 2008-09 including scholarships, repair and maintenance of religious/worship places and graveyards.
Arson and looting
Syeda Marvi Rashdi had asked for the number of arson, looting and ransacking incidents that took place in different parts of Karachi during the period between April 1, 2008 and November 30, 2008 as well as the number of people who had died and were injured in such incidents.
The home minister replied that 80 incidents of arson took place (19 people died, 34 were injured), 256 looting incidents took place (21 fatalities, 59 people injured) while 103 incidents of ransacking took place in the eight-month period. No one was killed in the ransacking incidents, while nine people were injured. The minister said the details of the incidents had been placed on the table of the house.
Nusrat Seher Abbasi asked the home minister if it was true that the Sindh police logo has been removed in Karachi and 'Karachi Capital Police' has been written on police vans.
Replying in the affirmative, Zulfiqar Mirza said “Due to the change in nomenclature of Karachi police, i.e. from Karachi police to capital city police the logo of Karachi police has been changed to capital city police. The provincial police officer, Sindh, in exercise of power under Article 27 of the Police Order 2002” is responsible for the decision.
