Law and order gets 15% of entire provincial budget

KARACHI: In a bid to improve the law and order situation in the province, the government has once again given it priority by allocating 15% of the total current revenue expenditure for the 2017-18 fiscal year, with an increase of 10%.

The home department has been allocated Rs90.5 billion in the 2017-18, compared to an allocation of Rs82.3 billion in the previous budget. The allocation includes Rs81.1 billion for the Sindh police. This includes an sanctioned number of employee allocation of Rs9.2 billion for the police.

Although 18,163 police personnel were recruited through the National Aptitude Test during the current fiscal year, for 2017-18 a total of 10,000 new posts of different ranks have been proposed for the Sindh police, while Rs2 billion has been allocated for the purchase of transport vehicles for the police. Around 3,000 posts have been proposed for security of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor related projects. The capacity of the Special Security Unit has been proposed to be enhanced by inducting 1,000 personnel.

A forensic laboratory will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs2.6 billion, in order to provide the Sindh police with a state-of-the-art centre to investigate and solve complex crimes. During the next fiscal year, an intelligence school and data centre will also be established for the Sindh police at a cost of Rs280million.

Reception rooms will be established at all the police stations across Sindh, which will be designed to portray a softer image of the police. For procurement of security related equipment, including hi-tech precision arsenal, Rs2 billion have been proposed. A feasibility study of Rs200 million will be carried out for installation of security cameras in major cities of the province.

“We are making efforts to improve our prisons. It is high time that we convert our traditional prisons to correctional facilities,” Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told the Sindh Assembly, adding that for next financial year, the budget of prisons is being enhanced to Rs4 billion. “This reflects an increase of 19% over the allocation for this financial year,” he added.

The CM said that Rs195 million is earmarked for installation of closed-circuit television cameras in various prisons of Sindh. The Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the home department is pitched at Rs2.4 billion, including Rs1.4 billion for the police and Rs986 million for prisons. For improving and strengthening of central prisons in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkar and Larkana, Rs300 million has been allocated.

Other than this, Rs200 million has been kept for construction of residences for Anti-Terrorism Courts judges and prison officers. For the next fiscal year, Rs132.5 million has been earmarked for construction of watch towers and boundary walls of the Rapid Response Force base alFalah and police headquarter District South, Karachi.

In the budget for fiscal year 2016-17, the Sindh police budget was increased to Rs74 billion, which was an increase of 17%. This amount was basically 90% of what has been set aside for the Sindh home department, which also pays for the services of the Rangers.

The home department, which includes police, jails, Rangers and other security agencies, is the second largest department in terms of resource allocation with a share of 14.4% of total current revenue expenditure in the fiscal year 2016-17. The home department was allocated Rs82.3 billion in the fiscal year 2016-17, against the previous fiscal year budget estimates of Rs70.8 billion, which was an increase of 16.2%. The budget for the Sindh police was enhanced from Rs63.3 billion to Rs74 billion in 2016-17, showing an increase of 16.9%. The ADP for the home department was pitched at Rs2 billion.

Source: The Express Tribune