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Friday March 29, 2024

Police Foundation has no plots for widows, orphans but bureaucrats can be obliged

ISLAMABAD: While cases of widows of martyred policemen and their children are pending with the National Police Foundation (NPF), it approved a one kanal luxurious plot for a senior bureaucrat of the interior ministry, who immediately sold it off. The market value of a one-kanal plot in this location of

By our correspondents
February 25, 2015
ISLAMABAD: While cases of widows of martyred policemen and their children are pending with the National Police Foundation (NPF), it approved a one kanal luxurious plot for a senior bureaucrat of the interior ministry, who immediately sold it off.
The market value of a one-kanal plot in this location of the federal capital is more than Rs40 million. The NPF official who was instrumental in the allotment of the plot got an extension recently.
The senior bureaucrat confirmed to The News receiving a plot and NPF official also admitted allotting a plot to the bureaucrat, saying there is a practice of offering a plot to senior bureaucrats. He admitted that the NPF had to refuse plots to many widows and orphans of martyrs because of non-availability of plots. However, he failed to explain why a plot was offered to a senior bureaucrat when hundreds of deserving families were refused plots.
More than 4,000 policemen have embraced martyrdom after 9/11 in different terrorist attacks or while fighting terrorists including more than 1,200 policemen of the KP police. The basic objective of the the National Police Foundation was to work for the welfare of policemen.
But its housing projects, especially in Islamabad, have turned into a goldmine for ‘honest’ DMG officers. The widows and orphans of those policemen who sacrificed their lives to protect their countrymen were denied plots. The last balloting of plots was held in early 2002 and there remained no more plot to allot.
However, during General Musharraf’s rule, NPF cancelled land reserved for mosques, parks and community centres and converted them into luxurious plots to be allotted to the powerful and the mighty. However, even these additionally created plots were utilised and nothing was left for the families of the martyred policemen. But those who know to ‘create plots’ can always do the magic. The top guns of the NPF always try to keep their senior bureaucrats happy by offering them plots. Some reject this kind of offer but ‘honest’ DMG officers always accept such offers. Those who reject such offers do so because they are awarded two luxurious plots and other benefits in the federal capital, equivalent to Rs100 million, and this is in addition to all other government benefits during the job and after retirement. There are no plots for the poor and low ranking employees or officers. A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry was told in May 2013 that only 67 plots were allotted to low-ranking police officers out of thousands of plots in NPF.
When NPF Islamabad sector E-11 residents pressed for land for the mosque, a small 10 marla plot was allocated for mosque on a sewerage water nullah. Schools’ plots were commercialised. Land for community centre and parks land was converted into plots to appease the ruling elite. The senior bureaucrat was offered plot a few weeks back. He accepted it and sold it off immediately.
The NPF official while talking to The News said: “I state on oath that my extension has nothing to do with the allotment of a plot to the senior bureaucrat.”
Zafar Qureshi, an officer of Police Service of Pakistan who also remained Managing Director of NPF while talking to The News confirmed that though some senior bureaucrats are offered plots by NPF in Islamabad but in fact there is no rule of NPF which allows allotment of such plots. Qureshi revealed that after the martyrdom of police officer Sifwat Ghayur who was commandant FC in KPK he had allotted a 10-marla plot to the family of martyr. Qureshi disclosed that the plot allotted to the family of Sifwat Ghayur Shaheed was the only plot that he allotted during his whole tenure. Qureshi said that under the same practice, every MD of NPF also got a plot but he never allotted himself any plot.
Officials at NPF confirmed to The News that they denied plots to the widows and orphan children of many shaheed police officers saying “NO PLOTS ARE AVAILABLE” but plots are always created to appease the bosses.