KARACHI: Emergency response control centres will be set up at district level to monitor security at educational institutions and the institutions will also be issued arms licences, city commissioner Asif Hider Shah has said.

According to a statement issued here on Tuesday, this decision was taken in a meeting held at the commissioner’s office.

The meeting chaired by the commissioner was attended by DIG Mushtaq Mahar, all deputy commissioners, representative of Rangers, director general of private schools Mansoob Siddiqui, Private School Association chief Khalid Shah and representatives of schools and other officials.

The commissioner reviewing the security situation at various schools said that the situation needed to be improved further and the management of the educational institutions should take more steps to beef up security in and around their institutions and in this regard if the management required arms licences, they would also be issued in the names of these institutions.

He said that with the assistance of the police, the emergency response control centres would be set up in the deputy commissioners offices where the educational institutions in the area could approach in case of an emergency and the law enforcers could respond quickly.

Published in Dawn, February 24th, 2016