LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has accorded approval to a summary and sanctioned an amount of Rs340 million to extend the traffic warden system to the remaining 30 districts of the province.

A senior official privy to the development told Dawn on Tuesday that the chief minister had desired to replicate the traffic warden system in other districts with a view to addressing the traffic issues through an educated force in the rest of the province.

Currently, he said, the traffic warden system was enforced in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Rawalpindi and Sialkot.

Rs340m sanctioned; panel to evolve service rules

The official said according to the new arrangements, the traffic police personnel, who are currently discharging duties in 30 districts, will be repatriated to their parent departments later on.

A majority of them, he said, hailed from the Punjab police. They would continue to serve the traffic police in these districts till the enforcement of the new system.

He said recruitment of ‘traffic assistants’ (TAs) would be made for the proposed 30 districts in Basic Pay Scale (BPS-7).

After completion of six-month basic recruitment course, they would be promoted as senior traffic assistants (STAs) in BPS-9.

Fifty per cent of the total number of STAs would be promoted as junior traffic wardens (JTAs) in BS-14 and 25pc would be allowed on the basis of graduation degree to appear in the Punjab Public Service Commission examination for promotion to the rank of traffic warden.

The official said in the new system the government had also decided to make appointment of the traffic personnel on the basis of their hometowns.

He said after enforcement of the new paradigm, the traffic wardens posted in the current six districts would also be allowed to submit their hometown districts for next postings.

The funds sanctioned by the Punjab government would be utilised for procuring logistics and transport to materialise the scheme at the earliest.

In order to make amendments to the service rules for the old and new traffic system, a meeting of the ‘Service Rules Committee’ was also called on Wednesday (today).

The secretaries of agriculture, home, information & culture, population welfare and finance departments would attend the meeting besides the commissioner and the Punjab IG.

On the other hand, detractors said the current system of traffic warden had failed to yield its desired results due to a number of reasons.

One of the major factors was the government’s ‘apathy’ towards the provision of service structure for traffic wardens.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2016