The estimated day-to-day expenditure is only 4.4% more than what it was last year when the total allocated budget was Rs54.4 billion.PHOTO: FILE
Police salaries will bite into the major chunk of the Rs66.6 billion budget the Sindh government has allocated for public order and safety.
This means that out of the total budget which is supposed to look after courts, the police, civil defence, the home department - the police will end up using around Rs55.08 billion for salaries and other expenses. Around Rs3.6 billion will be used up by the high courts, provincial ombudsman, attorneys and others. The civil defence department will get about Rs784 million.
The estimated day-to-day expenditure is only 4.4% more than what it was last year when the total allocated budget was Rs54.4 billion.
While speaking at Friday's Sindh Assembly session, the chief minister said that the budget for the law enforcement agencies will increase by at least 20% - from Rs44.86 billion to Rs55.08 billion by next year.
The break-up
For 130,741 people associated with the police department across the province, the Sindh government will spend around Rs44.6 billion on salaries. This means that only Rs9.4 billion will be left for the police force development projects. Out of this Rs330.7 million have been earmarked for new schemes involving the police and other security agencies working under the Sindh government.
This year, the government intends to spend Rs752 million on development projects for the police and Rs695 million on prisons. They also plan on spending Rs135 million on IT related programmes at the prisons - this includes improving the security system and CCTV equipment. The money will also be spent on improving the security systems at Karachi Central Jail, the juvenile and Malir jails - under schemes that were initiated years ago.
Some important projects which they plan to start in Karachi include constructing the Special Security Unit headquarters which will have barracks for around 1,000 men.
Federal grants
The federal government had promised Rs7 billion for the ongoing targeted operation but have not followed through as yet. The Sindh police still have to get vehicles, bullet-proof jackets and helmets for the Karachi operation to be effective and ensure that the police personnel are protected.
According to former DIF Finance Captain (Retd) Tahir Naveed who prepared the budget proposal, the Rs7 billion grant was not part of the budget.
While talking to The Express Tribune, he said that around 10,000 more personnel will be recruited by the police to strengthen the force. He said that like last year's budget, around 87% had been earmarked for employee-related expenses.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 14th, 2014.
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