Govt to build Rs2b police hospital

Interior minister promises additional funds for police in next fiscal

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal on Friday announced that the government would earmark Rs2 billion to build a hospital dedicated to serving members of the capital’s police force.

He said this while addressing policewomen at the Police Lines Headquarters in the capital on Friday.

The minister said that there should be a separate hospital for the capital police where its personnel could be provided with the best medical facilities.



The objective, he said, was to build a modern hospital for the police on the lines of hospitals for other law enforcement agencies in the country.

“We are taking this initiative from the federal capital and I hope the provinces would also follow it and build dedicated hospitals for their police force.”

Iqbal also promised to allocate additional funds in the upcoming budget for the Islamabad Police to address its problems.

He reiterated that a billion rupees would be allocated for the establishment of an anti-riot unit in the capital police.

The minister assured that the Islamabad police would be provided modern equipment and will be made an exemplary force for other law enforcement agencies by their performance and support from the community.



The minister said that out of the 22, seven model police stations have been established in the capital whose pattern may be replicated in other parts of the country while the remaining stations would also be converted into model police stations in subsequent phases.

“I congratulate the Islamabad Police over the completion of this vision,” the minister said.

He insisted that model policing was not a slogan and added that citizens can visit police stations without any fear to get their issues resolved without having any approach. Every citizen, he stressed, should be treated as VIP at these police stations.

The interior minister urged for the cooperation of community to ensure successful policing and said the prime task to a policeman should be protection and assistance to aggrieved persons including children, women and other marginalized segments of the society.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2018.