Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Order 2016 has come under scrutiny by some officers of the Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) on Wednesday.

The unnamed officials have pointed out at least five points that they believed need revision by the government. The first point, according to them, was the concentration of power in the inspector general with a view to diminish political interference and create unity of command like army. The officers said that the police was not a force like the army. Additionally, they added, in army the chief does not order transfer postings or run the administration on his own, as it was responsibility of the MS branch. The officers added that this step would enable the PSP mafia to place blue-eyed postings, as they would enjoy entire administrative control at the Central Police Offices (CPO).

Another point raised by officers was the lack of accountability for the PSP officers who were governed by different rules of the Establishment Division Islamabad. “As evident from the last three years, all 4,000 plus police officers who have been punished were from the provincial police,” an official claimed.

The third point was the demand of more than 8,000 provincial policemen for a separate service structure and quota in promotions of grade 18 and above. The officials alleged all such requests were turned down by the government and police heads so that no provincial police officer could get to a higher grade. “Their encadrement is so cumbersome that they lose 10 or more years’ legitimate seniority in grade 18 and are left at the mercy of the establishment division,” the officer added.

Similarly, it was stated that the only accountability forum for police, the Public Safety Commission, too had many lacunae. The last point raised by the PSP officers highlighted that the grade 18 and above seats were the sole prerogative of the establishment division and the power given to the IGP under the proposed police order to promote officers in grade 18 was not legal. They also questioned the creation of more vacancies in grade 18 and above through a provincial ordinance. The provincial government has shown its inability to protect rights of the provincial police officers, even after passing of the 18th amendment, which has shifted law and order in police affairs to the province, the PSP officers claimed.