LAHORE - The Punjab government has jacked up spending on law and order with the police budget allocation alone rising by an unprecedented Rs13 billion for the fiscal year 2015-16.
During its budget estimates presented in the Punjab Assembly on Friday, the government proposed an allocation of Rs94.67 billion for the police department against the last year’s allocation of Rs81.68 billion. While, in 2012-13 only Rs 62 billion had been allocated for the police department.
The finance minister announced a reasonable raise for the law enforcement agency from last year’s budget for the police, allocating another Rs4 billion for the Safe City Project.
Under the Safe City Project, the government is planning strict surveillance of miscreants and offenders by using modern tools including CCTV cameras. This project of comprehensive surveillance system would be completed in Lahore by December 2015. However, this project would be completed in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, and Faisalabad in 2016.
“In order to get rid of the traditional police culture (Thana culture) and to introduce a pleasant atmosphere by redressing the public grievances, at least 80 police service centers are also being set up across the Punjab province,” claimed Dr Ayesha Ghaus Pasha, the provincial finance minister. The minister also maintained that additional funds would be utilized to equip the police with latest weapons and technology besides providing best training to the policemen.
Country’s largest law enforcing agency will use billions of rupees for massive expansion and re-equipping to deal with rising internal security threats, police sources said.
In their campaign manifesto, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had pledged to improve the police culture by introducing the much-needed reforms and providing more resources to the law enforcing agency. Lahore police would consume more funds as compared to the other districts while major chunk of the grants would be used under the head of fixed salaries.
Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Muhammad Amin Wains said that since the criminals appear to be more sophisticated, the police department will have to build its capacity both in terms of expertise and number of personnel. “We are planning to provide specialised training for the policemen to be deployed to various stations.”
Since the law and order remains a key driver for the economic growth, the additional funds would help the department materialize the Chief Minister’s dream of modern policing by utilizing expertise and resources, says the Lahore police chief.