‘Crime rate eclipses reforms, uplift’
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif has said that the crime rate will have to be brought down across the province.
“I will not tolerate a no-go area anywhere in Punjab,” she asserted while presiding over a meeting to review the law and order situation in the province. The IGP gave a briefing about the overall law and order situation and police performance.
The chief minister said the people would disregard the reforms and development projects of the government if the crime rate was on the rise.
She said the police were laying down their lives but black sheep also existed.
“I side with the police and stand behind the force. I expressed solidarity with the police by donning the uniform. We are providing ample resources to the police so that their performance is not weakened,” she asserted.
The chief minister said the government would introduce a system to evaluate the police performance and eliminate corruption.
She said 14 special checkpoints were being established to stop inter-provincial smuggling of goods.
“We are meeting every demand of the police through the provision of vehicles, gadgets, ammunition and training. It is our foremost responsibility to ensure the protection of every police personnel standing at a check post,” she added.
The chief minister lauded Punjab IGP, Sargodha RPO and a DPO for protecting and safely evacuating 10 people from a mob.
She said a 50 per cent decrease in incidents of dacoity in Lahore was welcome.
She said looting labourers who had received their salary was shameful. She said she had given a deadline to the RPO of Sheikhupura to curb robberies.
The chief minister also called for action regarding reported incidents of theft of sacrificial animals.
She called for a sustained crackdown for the elimination of drugs.
The police should take effective measures to stop incidents of aerial firing, she said.
The CM said political intervention in the police affairs had been done away with and the force should perform now.
She also instructed the DPOs to purge the police in their districts of corrupt and criminal elements.
An effective crackdown should be launched for the eradication of electricity theft on the DG Khan model, she said and added, “If electricity theft is eliminated then load-shedding will end as well."
A proposal to establish barracks of beggars in the jails across Punjab was agreed upon in the meeting.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 2nd, 2024.