Spending on security: Major chunk of police budget goes to salaries yet again

Of Rs32.74b, Rs28.56b is for salaries, Rs4.18 for operational expenses

PESHAWAR:

The proposed amount for the police department in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is Rs32.74 billion in the 2015-16 budget.

There is not a large difference between the amount allocated to the department in the last fiscal budget and the current one.

The breakdown

Of the proposed allocation, a chunk of Rs28.56 billion will go to the salaries of more than 71,312 posts and Rs4.18 billion has been allocated to the operational and non-salary expenses of the force.

As per the white paper (budget document), a development budget of Rs2.97 billion has also been set for the force. The document mentions an upward trend was noticed yet again in the allocation over the last five years with the greatest increase of 24% in the fiscal year 2012-13.

Allocations for the police department will also be made under the home department of which the police department is a subsector. Out of Rs3.5 billion meant for the home sector, a major part will be spent to strengthen the Police Support Development Programme by constructing and renovating police stations, posts and lines and by procuring required equipment to help protect the public against terrorism. However, the white paper does not specify the breakdown for the subsectors.

Previously

In the outgoing year, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led coalition government had proposed a budget of Rs28.53 billion for the police. This included annual increment for the police force, increase in the salaries of regular police and increase in the pay of special police force and ex-army men.  Again, a major portion was spent on salaries of the force and a small portion was left behind for operational expenses of the police.

The creation of 1,853 new police posts had also been approved and funds were provided for the purpose.

For development, the same amount [Rs3.5 billion] was allocated in the fiscal year 2014-15.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2015.