Opposition grills Punjab govt on law and order

Minister announces recruitment of 5,000 police personnel

LAHORE:

Opposition lawmakers grilled the provincial government in Punjab Assembly on Monday over its alleged failure in controlling law and order in the province.

They said the police could not be put on the right track despite increase in their salaries, adding that the need of the hour was to put an end to the conduct through which the people were being exploited.

During general discussion on law and order, Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP) parliamentary leader Syed Hassan Murtaza said the things could not be improved until merit was followed.

He said bureaucracy was being strengthened in allocation of police funds. Complainants had to bear the expenses of even ‘paper and pen’ during the investigations, he lamented. “No one can resolve the issues of law and order by replacing the inspectors general of police (IGPs).”

The treasury lawmakers were irked when the PPP leader said a single person needed to be replaced rather than the IGPs to resolve all issues.

Provincial Law Minister Raja Basharat contested the opposition’s claim that the law and order situation had worsened. He said it was the PTI-led government that had purchased 500 vehicles for the police after 15 years. He asked how good results could be expected from any department until it was provided the best facilities.

He said the previous government had established the highway police but no vehicle was purchased for them in past 15 years.

The minister said the government would recruit over 5,000 personnel to overcome shortage of staff in police.

He also vowed that strict action would be taken against those found involved in hate speech. The minister condemned the recent incident of rioting outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office on the arrival of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2020.