The Inspector General (IG) of Punjab Police’s recent request to the Punjab government to create nine new posts of deputy inspector generals (DIGs) in lieu of the four posts (in the same scale) abolished last year flies in the face of the rightsizing policy of the provincial government.
The government introduced the rightsizing policy in 2011 aiming to curtail current expenditures. A committee headed by the senior advisor to the chief minister Sirdar Zulifqar Ali Khan Khosa recommended abolition of 67 posts in the Police Department. These included one post of Additional IG (Vigilance, Research and Development and Operations, four posts of DIGs, including the sports director and DIGs for administration in Multan and two other cities.
One post of senior superintendent of police and 59 posts of DSPs and ASPs belonging to the Police Service of Pakistan were also abolished with the cabinet’s approval.
About 15 months after the downsizing, IG Haji Habibur Rehman has written to the home secretary requesting creation of nine posts of DIGs.
A committee headed by Jehanzaib Burki, the chief minister’s advisor on law and order, the home secretary and the IG has now been constituted to make recommendations for the nine new slots.
An official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, Rehman wants to hire nine senior police officers from the federal government.
He said that over 600 posts in civil administration had been abolished under the same policy but no other department had so far requested for creation of news posts. If the Police Department’s request was granted it would open the flood gates of request for more officers for other departments, he said.
Police Department Public Relations director Nabeela Ghazanfar said the nine posts had been requested as the police administration was being bifurcated into two for the city and the department was being upgraded.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2012.
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