Vests given to K-P police are 'not bulletproof'

Secretary defence production says jackets were bought from private firms


RAZIA KHAN February 12, 2019
Secretary defence production says jackets were bought from private firms. PHOTO: FILE

ISLAMABAD: Secretary defence production has accepted that jackets purchased for the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) police were not bulletproof due to which many officials have lost their lives.

He made this revelation while addressing the Senate’s Standing Committee on Defence Production presided by the committee Chairman Lt. General (retd) Abdul Qayyum. Officials informed the committee that though a budget of Rs99 billion had been requested for the current financial year, only Rs72 billion have been allocated.

Secretary Lt General (retd) Muhammad Ijaz Chaudhry informed the panel that the jackets were purchased from private organisations but heavy losses were incurred since they turned out to be not bulletproof. He said the IG K-P police has been arrested in this case.

In a briefing provided by POF Wah on producing electricity, Pakistan Ordnance Factory officials informed the committee the power policy has come to an end due to which their old case hangs in loop.  NEPRA under the pretext of the policy having expired was not allowing them to sell energy even though the institute wants to provide additional electricity to NEPRA.

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NEPRA officials replied there are no issues on their part and the POF will have to shift to net metering. However, the committee chairman asked both NEPRA and POF to sit down and resolve their issue.

Meanwhile, the defence production official informed the committee only Rs72 billion had been provided in the current year and 52% of that amount has been received in six months while the POF was provided Rs34 billion and Rs18 billion have been allocated to the PAC.

He said not even one rupee was provided for machinery and plant even though upgrading of defence production institutes is extremely essential. He said these institutes had to work on their own in which they have failed. Chaudhry also informed the panel that Rs350 billion were earned by different defence production institutes which were deposited in the national treasury.

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The chairman of the committee said a separate sum should be provided for the repair of machinery, adding that since the institute of defence production has not been fully commercialised,  they should have their own budget.

Senator Noman Wazir said these institutes should work in three shifts and not one which will increase production and reduce deficit. He said these institutes were commercial bodies and must not be counted as one of the defence institutes.

The committee chairman said production institutes must be given budget once while the armed forces must pay them if their products are purchased. He said if this happens then these institutes will shift towards earning profit instead of suffering losses.

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