Arms licences for schools: District govt issues new procedures

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi district government on Wednesday issued new standard operating procedures (SoP) for granting arms licences to educational institutes. 

The licences would be issued to public and private schools after they met the new conditions.

Under the new procedures, private institutes will have to get no-objection certificates (NoC) from the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), Tehsil Municipal Authority (TMAs) or the relevant cantonment boards controlling the area in which they are based.

Private schools would also have to submit details of total enrolment duly verified by an assistant commissioner.

The applicants will also have to submit a certificate regarding security clearance of its owner and have all security guards verified by the special branch.

The number of weapons to be issued would be assessed on the basis of the number of students, location of the institution, number of entry and exit points, level of threat, proximity to the nearest police station, and other factors which would be determined by the district administration.

Under the new SoPs, the applicants will also have to submit their registration certificates issued by the relevant authority, which shall be verified by the Education EDO.

Meanwhile, the All Pakistan Private Schools Management Association (APPSMA) criticised the new conditions, terming them “unacceptable”.

APPSMA Rawalpindi President Ibrar Ahmad Khan said that the SoPs were so strict that it would take months to get an arm licence.

“We are already affiliated with the education department, while the new procedures call for verification from the RDA, the TMAs and cantonment boards,” he said, adding that they will not accept the new conditions.

He demanded relaxation in the conditions, “otherwise no private schools will apply for arms licences”.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2015.