Despite being halfway through the financial year 2024-25, the project to construct new anti-narcotics police stations (PSs), a collaborative effort between the Excise Taxation and Narcotics Control Department (ETNCD) and the Pakistan Army, remains stagnant.
This initiative aimed to bolster the fight against drugs, but unfortunately, not a single police station has been built. Furthermore, no First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered under these proposed police stations in any divisional area of the province, including the Rawalpindi Division. Despite the allocation of funds, the project remains in limbo.
The Punjab government, in collaboration with the Pakistan Army and the ETNCD, initiated a project to establish joint police stations in all nine divisional headquarters of Punjab: Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Lahore, Multan, Sahiwal, Dera Ghazi Khan, and Bahawalpur.
The goal of these police stations was to completely eradicate drugs across the province. They were supposed to be operational by September 30, however, despite the passage of six months, not a single police station has been established.
Under this project, a standalone directorate was to be created. At its helm was to be a serving Brigadier as the Director General (DG), supported by a Director Colonel, three Majors, Deputy Directors, Captains, and Station House Officers (SHOs) as heads of the respective police stations. They were supposed to operate independently, with their own police stations, custody cells, security teams, and a fleet of vehicles.
While the newly-appointed Director General (DG) has assumed responsibilities in Lahore, the remainder of the project remains stalled.
Sources in ENTCD's Rawalpindi chapter say new police stations are expected to become operational at the beginning of the new year. As of now, the recruitment process for 60 new employees has been completed, and their training is currently underway in Lahore.
The training programme is scheduled to conclude in early February, after which the newly trained officers will be assigned to these police stations.
In the first phase, these police stations will be established in major cities, including Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Multan, and Faisalabad, sources said, adding that in the second phase, these police stations will be set up in other divisions across the province.
The new police stations will be staffed by trained professional officers who will focus on eradicating drug dealers throughout Punjab.
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