No to sifarish culture: SHOs to be appointed on basis of eligibility, performance

They will also have to be approved by a five-member board headed by AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo.

KARACHI: The Sindh police finally have a mechanism for transfers and postings of station house officers (SHOs) given how controversial the procedure for transfers and postings has been so far.

SHOs will be posted on the basis of their performance, eligibility and approval by a five-member board. The same board will also decide the blacklisting of the SHOs for future posting if they were removed on serious charges. This was decided in a meeting chaired by Sindh IG Ghulam Hyder Jamali on Tuesday, according to a press release.



In Karachi alone, there are around 114 police stations in six districts — South, West, Central, East, Korangi and Malir. However, there are only three DIGs for the six districts. The Malir and Korangi districts are merged with District East and one DIG is responsible for them. Similarly, District West is merged with the Central district where SHOs are appointed by the Karachi AIG on the basis of recommendations by the district police chiefs.

While transfers and postings of SHOs in Karachi is a routine, the sad part was that most of the SHOs were appointed on the basis of recommendations — sifarish [reference] or paying a hefty amount. The transfer and postings of officials in the Sindh police was also criticised during the last apex committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif at Governor House. During the meeting, it was decided that the recruitment of officials on political recommendation must stop and that the Sindh police will take the approval of the apex committee before transferring police officers.

According to sources, in light of the apex committee's decision, a meeting was chaired by Jamali on Tuesday in which it was decided that the SHOs will be posted purely on their performance and eligibility. AIG Ghulam Qadir Thebo shall act as chairperson of the board while West Zone DIG, South Zone DIG, East Zone DIG and Administration DIG will be the members of the board. Input from the special branch will also be duly considered by the board.

According to a press statement issued by the Central Police Office, Sindh IGP also directed Thebo to immediately remove all those SHOs whose jurisdictions harbour narcotics dens and other social evils. He also directed special branch DIG to immediately verify the antecedents of all posted SHOs and submit a report.

It was also decided that those SHOs who were removed on serious charges must be blacklisted for future posting.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2015.