As many as 4,000 retired army personnel will be recruited to fight street crime in Lahore, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif announced on Tuesday.
Addressing a high-level meeting to review the law and order situation in the province, the chief minister said this would help improve the law and order situation in the city.
Sharif said that the new recruits would perform their duties in coordination with the police to control street crime. He directed the home secretary to initiate the recruitment process with immediate effect.
Chief Minister’s Advisor Jehanzeb Khan Burki, assembly members Pervaiz Malik, Mian Marghoob Ahmad, Hafiz Muhammad Nauman, Shuja Khanzada, secretaries of the Home Department, Finance Department, Prosecution Department and Information Department and inspector general of the Punjab Police were also present.
Sharif stressed the need for an effective strategy to control street crime. He said recruiting retired soldiers was part of the new strategy.
He also ordered the establishment of an anti-crime helpline and sought a report about how it would work by next week.
He said the report should be prepared in consultation with the Information Technology Board chairman.
Sharif directed the officials concerned to ensure that the prosecution of arrested criminals was expedited and cases be submitted to the relevant courts. He also sought a weekly report of various cases from the prosecution secretary.
The chief minister directed police to chalk out a comprehensive strategy to deal with old cases. He ordered the IG and the Capital City Police Officer to submit a progress report in a week on the actions taken on old cases.
He said that the police department should make a comprehensive plan to control extortion across the Punjab.
“The dream of a peaceful society cannot be realised without the eradication of extremism,” he said.
Members of the Assembly were asked to review the performance of police stations in their constituencies and to submit a report to the chief minister in the next meeting on law and order.
The chief minister said that the Citizen Police Liaison Committee should be made functional and the police must ensure prompt registration of FIRs in all cases.
He said the police had been provided with the resources it required and must now produce results.
“Protecting the citizens’ life and property is the government’s foremost priority. It should also be the police’s priority,” he said.
MPA Khanzada briefed the chief minister about the training of Punjab Police in cooperation with the Turkish government. He said more police officers will be visiting Turkey next month.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2012.
COMMENTS (20)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
How can i apply for this Job......i am a army retired person....if any body knows please email....
Khalq e Khuda: sir a lower rank retired army personnel has no power whats over< how cN THESE 4000, YET TO BE RETIRED, help CM to please GHQ?
@Khalq e Khuda: sir a lower rank retired personnel has no power whatsoever! how can these 4000, yet to be recruited, help CM to please GHQ?! maybe you are upset that the Police has been doing wonders & Ex army men will tarnish their great achievements :) @Asher Rafiq: hmmm so the police is doing a great job? really?
This nation needs a one man rule who does not compromise on anything, these so called democratic govts or democratic-dictator partnership has ruined this country! Pakistan needs to be disciplined from top all the way to the bottom, we have illiterates & educated-illiterates to deal with.
Shahbaz Sharif appeasing his unifromed masters once again.
What are young folks supposed to do when the government is too interested in hiring retirees?
@Maria:
Excuse me Maria but all the projects in Multan were initiated by former Prime Minister Gillani and not Shahbaz Sharif. Punjab government's allocations for Multan in particular and south Punjab in general are a disgrace.
Moreover, much of Punjab exists outside the city limits where Punjab government has been a constant hurdle to increased support prices, crops procurement and rural development schemes.
As a resident of Lahore who has to cope with the rogue, thug and ill mannnered Muhafiz force every month let me outline what will happen now: A new police force to feed with money from the public exchequer and more importantly from the public's pocket at pickets. Innocents like me who pose no threat to law enforcement but are on a harmless date on the road will be questioned, stopped and harassed. I agree that Mr Shahbaz wants his province to prosper but I can also tell you that he lacks vision and the absence of vision makes his efforts useless. We all know who the alternative is.
@Farhan: Have you seen him with one?
Extrarodinary situations require extraordinary measures.....
@Asim Mengal: Soldiers normally retire after putting in 15 to 25 years of service in Army, thus they still are just around 40 years of age, they do have their lives ahead to care for their families/dependents.
They may be given employment in the field of their training, even after their retirement from one job.
Why shouldn't you reduce your security to accommodate common people. This gentleman introduced Elite force for anti terrorism and now they all doing security duty at Raiwind and Model Town, same will be the fate of this force.
Here we go again. For PMLN this cleary shows thier mindset and leanings toward the army. For all ills, according to them, the army is the answer. Politicians such as this give politicians a bad name. When they wre in power last time, they put KESC under the control of the army whcih made a mess of things. Now under a private party, KESC has improved in leaps and bounds. Just goes to show, military should remain at the borders and barracks.
Better if he diverts 2000 police from riwand on vip duty--just fool public is the new policy of noora
true leader
Sir, I would suggest instead of recruiting 4000 Ex-soldiers and giving them under the control of police to control the street crime, it would be much batter that MUHALLAH PEACE COMMITTEES be formed for this purposes because criminals escape due to more reaction time of the law enforcement agencies. they should be given weapons and authority to check and challenge the criminals in the initial stage while police reaches to support them. They should be in touch with concerning Police station on hotline. Let the residents guard themselves against street crimes. the members of committee should be of good repute individuals preferably ex - soldiers and retired bureaucrats. This will bring the favor and support of the masses to Govt. also.
I think all unemployed youth are eradicated and they are living peaceful life. Youth needs job and training. Retired people should better retire.
He is hiring all these policemen to shut down roads when he is passing through.
@Farhan: It's not just Lahore but all of the Punjab which has prospered and developed under Shahbaz Sharif. Go to Sialkot, Gujranwala, Multan or Faisalabad. They are not only stable but prospering. No one anywhere in Punjab would deny his efforts to build a better Punjab. We may disagree with some of his programmes but no one doubts his sincere intention to see the Punjab develop more- not just Lahore but all of the Punjab. And for your information, I am not a Lahori.
According to Shahbaz Sharif "The dream of a peaceful society cannot be realised without the eradication of extremism,"
If he's serious he should start with banning his law minister Rana Sana Ullah who hangs out with lots of banned extremist organizations!
Protecting Lahore is his one and only concern :)