LAHORE - Front desks have been established at 202 police stations in 13 districts of the Punjab province to facilitate the visitors and complainants. Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif is likely to inaugurate the new project next week.
Punjab Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Sukhera yesterday revealed this while addressing the conference of regional police officers at the central police office. All the RPOs and the DPOs attended the conference through video link whereas senior officers including additional-IG Sohail Khan, Arif Nawaz, DIG Shahid Hanif, Lahore DIG (Operations) Dr Haider Ashraf, AIG Hussain Habib Imtiaz, Humayun Bashir Tarar, and AIG Waqas-ul-Hassan officers were also present in the conference.
These front desks will be made operational across the province on May 23. The chief minister will formally inaugurate the project on the same day. These front desks will be managed by the civilian staff, the spokeswoman said.
A police spokesperson yesterday told The Nation that the initiative was part of the police reforms and it will surely help bridge the communication gap between the police and the public.
The arrangements to establish front desks in 202 police stations of 13 districts have been completed. The initiative will help provide a peaceful environment to the complainants at police stations so that they can file complaints without any fear and hesitation.
During the conference, the provincial police chief was informed that at least 578 IT qualified male and female senior station assistants (SSA) and police station assistants (PSA) have been enrolled through the Punjab Public Service Commission.
At least 422 male and 156 female would work as senior station assistants and police station assistants at the front desks to facilitate the public across the province where more than 700 police stations are located.
This newly-recruited civilian staff has completed six-week training pertaining to policing, laws, and other relevant courses. The process of their postings in their respective districts has also been completed.
At least 74 front desks have been established in Lahore, 6 in Sheikhupura, 3 in Sahiwal, 21 in Gujranwala, 18 in Rawalpindi, 24 in Faisalabad, 8 in Sargodha, 15 in Multan, two in DG Khan, two in Muzaffargarh, 5 in Bahawalpur, and 10 in Rahim Yar Khan region.
According to police officials, these front desks would be monitored on regular bases from the offices of the district police officer and the regional police officers. For this purpose, special monitoring rooms have also been established in district and regional police offices.
These desks are set up in front of the police stations for the convenience of the people and these centers are equipped with the required infrastructure including equipment and furniture.
The SSAs and PSAs will perform their duties independently and they would have nothing to do with the SHOs and the Muharrars of the police stations. The senior station assistants and police station assistants will be taken to task if they would try to involve the SHOs or the Muharrars in their working.
On the directions of the Punjab chief minister, the front desks in the rest of the districts will also be established within the next financial year and this system would start a new era and will be an important step to make the police a public friendly institution.
During the conference, the officers also reviewed the security arrangements for the mosques, Ramadan bazaars, religious congregations, and worship places minorities. The meeting also reviewed in detail the arrangements made for the security of schools and other educational institutions. It was also decided in the meeting that the security plan for religious places and educational institutions should be finalized after the recommendations of the field officers.