PHOTO: AFP
This was stated by DIG Operations Dr Haider Ashraf Ashrad as he spoke to The Express Tribune. He added that a comprehensive plan had been devised for the purpose.
According to the plan, the force will need trained staff and IT infrastructure at the police station level. For trained staff, they were sending badges of police officials to Punjab Information and Technology Board (PITB) at Arfa Karim Tower and also acquiring IT infrastructure. Besides, they will also provide an android phone to the station house officer and install an E-Filing and Office Automation System (e-FOAS). As a result, the official would immediately receive intimation through a mailbox popup when an order/communication was conveyed.
Ashraf said that police station, being a basic unit of the police department, worked as the backbone of the system. Most of the official communication was through the police station and the information had to pass through three or four levels. The communication goes through the circle officer, divisional SP, SSP, DIG, CCPO and then the PPO.
The manual process of communication took a lot of time and consumed resources. For example, if a notice was to be sent to Raiwind Police Station, which was more than 35 or 40 kilometers from the DIG Office, it used to take a lot of time for the official deputed to complete the task. Similarly, if official posts from the police station had to be sent to other offices, an official would have to deliver it physically.
Once the system is introduced, the communications could be delivered through a single click. “It will also not be lost and records will be maintained. The e-FOAS system was centralised and every officer can access or monitor it,” he added. “In short, this paperless environment will avoid a lot of hassle, save time and resources, apart from as promoting accountability, transparency and maintenance of records, he said.
As far as the e-FOAS system at DIG Ops was concerned, police had established a control room where trained staff from the department would be deployed. He added there was a centralised desk which received all official communication/orders etc. In addition, there were desks of every branch of DIG Ops such as the Legal Brach, Security Branch, Stationary Branch and Logistics Branch. The centralised desk communicated the documents or orders after scanning to these branches.
The branches would then forward communications to concerned officers/officials and a similar set up would be replicated on the police station level, he added.
Ashraf said that in the control room, all branches sat beside each other and communication was being conveyed in a matter seconds. He compared it to the manual system, saying some communication could take days even if the branches shared the same wall. The DIG vowed to introduce the system within two months.
He added that other records of police station included 24 registers and those of the investigations branch had already been computerised through the PolCom software. Front Desks were digitising FIRs and complaints on a daily basis through the Complainants Management Systems at police stations.
The e-Filing and Office Automation System (e-FOAS) at the DIG Ops office was formally inaugurated by Punjab Inspector General of Police Arif Nawaz and PITB Chairperson Umar Saif in August 2017.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2017.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ