LAHORE, Oct 6: The district management group (DMG) officers are set to regain an upper hand in affairs related to the law and order as the police is being made answerable to the district Nazim through the district coordination officer (DCO), like 12 other departments.
The step is a reversal of the government policy within two months of the introduction of the devolution plan.
The change is being made reportedly after the government faced problems in regulating the functioning of police at the district level.
Punjab Chief Secretary Imtiaz Masrur said the existing laws would be amended during the next three to four days to make the district police officers (DPOs) answerable to the district Nazims through the DCOs.
According to proposed amendments, police will function under the district government in which the DCO holds the position of the principal officer or the main coordinator.
“This is an important change,” the chief secretary said. “The DCO will now act as the main coordinating officer between the district Nazim and the DPO.
A majority of the DMG officers working as the DCOs were serving as divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners at the time of the establishment of the district governments on Aug 14. They reportedly lost interest in the new assignment after the government transferred all powers of the district magistrate/deputy commissioner either to the judiciary or to the Nazims and police.
They were put under the direct control of the district nazims along with 12 provincial government departments which were devolved at the district level. But police were kept out of the ambit of the district government, especially in matters pertaining to law and order.
Sources said the government was now giving a role to the DCOs in the affairs of police because of reports that they had not been showing interest in even guiding the Nazims how to control law and order and police on the pretext that the existing laws did not provide for any such role.
They said realizing the importance of seeking the advice and opinion of the DCOs as the experts in district management, the army officers in the districts had been asking them to attend meetings on law and order even if they were not bound to do so under the existing laws.
This was due to the same reason that the DCOs were asked to advise and guide the district Nazims in all matters, especially on law and order by the Punjab chief secretary around a week ago.
Official sources said this directive was an indirect admission that the role of the DCOs in the entire affairs of the district, including that of police, could not be ignored.
According to the chief secretary, the changes in the relevant laws, including the local government ordinance and the Police Act, will be notified during the next three to four days, making police a part of the district government and not an independent body.
He refuted the impression that the DCOs had not been working beyond the functions laid down under the laws governing the local governments and the entire devolution plan.
Under the new system, the prime duty of the elected representatives and bureaucracy was to serve the people. The government officers were required not only to perform their assigned duties but all other affairs in their areas of jurisdiction, the chief secretary said.
Mr Masrur said except for at one or two places there had been no differences between the Nazims and the DCOs. The system had been introduced without considering the liking or disliking of any group and those posted as the DCOs had no choice.