Police rotation to cost Punjab several officers
DIG Operations Lahore Sohail Chaudhry, SSP Operations Ismail Kharak and the divisional SPs in anti riot gear near Muridke to respond to the crackdown efforts to halt the movement of the protestors on Oct 27, 2021. PHOTO: EXPRESS
While Sindh government has asked the Establishment Division to review the transfer of senior police officers under the rotation policy, some police officers from Punjab have also been affected by the move.
On November 9, the federal Establishment Division reportedly issued orders of transfer of some deputy inspectors general (DIGs) to other provinces. They were instructed to report to the division.
They were supposed to be transferred to the other provinces, especially Sindh, and the order was aimed at implementing the rotation policy.
As per the rotation policy introduced last year, an officer having served continuously for 10 years in a province is supposed to be transferred to another federating unit.
The transferred DIGs include Agha Muhammad Yousaf, Muhammad Yousaf Malik, Suleman Sultan Rana, Inam Waheed, Syed Khuram Ali and Zaem Sheikh.
There also are other senior officers who are set to be transferred in coming weeks from their current place of posting under the rotation policy.
The officers include the newly appointed Lahore DIG Operations Ahsan Younis.
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Last week, eight DIGs posted in Sindh were transferred to other provinces. Four of them were transferred to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah, three to Punjab and one to Balochistan. The Sindh government two days back conveyed its reservations to the Establishment Division over the transfer of the senior police officers.
Reportedly, the provincial government complained that the rules and regulations were not followed in the move. It stated that the consultation policy came before rotation in the procedure but it had been ignored. The Sindh government had also shared similar concerns in March.
The Rotation Policy 2020 was introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government at the federal level and the same party controls the reins in Punjab. For this or some other reason, no reservations have been expressed by Punjab government except seeking permission for not relieving three DIGs from the province. The government asked the Establishment Division to extend their service in the province, but the request has reportedly not been entertained.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2021.