CM’s security: 14 private guards recruited as constables

Home Dept, Finance Dept, chief secretary had advised against hiring.

LAHORE:

The Punjab Police has recruited as constables 14 men who were serving on the chief minister’s security detail in a private capacity.

The recruitments were made upon the chief minister’s approval, despite the Home Department, the Finance Department and the chief secretary advising against it as it violated several hiring rules.

The 14 constables, who will continue to serve on the chief minister’s security team, have been hired on three-year contracts at a salary of Rs22,000 per month, according to official documents, available with The Express Tribune. Their contracts are worth a total of Rs11.08 million.



The inspector general of Punjab Police first sent a summary for the hiring of the 14 men as constables to the Home Department in July, seeking a relaxation in recruitment rules. An official at the IG’s office said that they had been instructed by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat to recruit the 14 men.

But the Home Department sent back the summary, saying that the proper recruitment method would be to advertise the posts in the press to invite applications from eligible candidates. The advertisement would detail recruitment criteria like age, academic qualifications and physical measurements. The regular age of recruitment for a constable is 18 to 25. They are required to be matriculates, at least 5 feet and 7 inches tall, and have a chest measuring 33 inches at rest and 34.5 inches when breathing in, the Home Department observed.

The IG’s office again sent a summary to the Home Department in the first week of August, this time with the argument that the fraught law and order situation in the country demanded extreme caution and vigilance on the part of security personnel. Since the chief minister, the IG said, often travelled around the province meeting with members of the general public and holding open courts, it was imperative that his security cover be “foolproof”.

The IG asked the Home Department to relax recruitment rules regarding the qualifications and the Contract Policy of 2004 to allow the induction of the 14 men. He noted that there were many vacancies for constables in the Lahore police.

The Home Department repeated its objections, but sent the summary on to the Finance Department. It observed that such recruitments were against the essence of Article 18 of the Constitution (freedom of trade, business or profession).

The summary was sent on to the chief secretary. He observed that the Punjab Police was approximately 8,000 constables short of its approved strength of 125,000, while advertisements had been approved for the recruitment of 4,000 constables. He advised against bypassing the regular recruitment process to hire the 14 men as constables.

Despite the bureaucracy’s advice, the chief minister approved the IG’s summary, stating that “a smart, robust and skilled security force in the shape of these 14 young men would serve the purpose of security more purposefully in these times than anybody else”.

According to official records, the chief minister has not held an open court outside of his Model Town residence (where one is held every Thursday) since May 2009. The chief minister was due to hold an open court on May 28, 2009, but it was postponed indefinitely after a suicide attack near the Police Rescue 15 and ISI offices in Lahore.

A superintendent of police said that the recruitment of constables was a competitive process with candidates assessed via a written test, physical exam and interview.

A senior official in the CM’s Secretariat said that more than 50 Elite Force guards were also deployed with the chief minister.

Asked to comment on the recruitment, police spokeswoman Nabeela Ghazanfar said that the government had the authority to recruit men for special duties on a need basis. The recruitments were made to meet the requirements for the chief minister’s security, she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 25^th, 2013.