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Thursday March 28, 2024

Awarding ‘hard area’ status to KP a test case for PTI government

By Javed Aziz Khan
September 17, 2018

PESHAWAR: The police authorities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been demanding 'hard area' status for the province for years but the demand always fell on deaf ears.

Now it remains to be seen whether the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government at the centre awards the 'hard area' status to the province to end the shortage of officers in senior grades. The provincial police authorities on a number of occasions had demanded the centre through the provincial government to declare the province 'hard area' like Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan so that the police officers in senior grades were posted in KP for a mandatory term.

Senior officers have to serve for a certain mandatory period in 'hard area' to meet the criteria for posting to top grades. A large number of senior officers were transferred to Balochistan in recent years after the province was awarded the status. "When the PTI ruled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the police authorities of the province had demanded the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz-led federal government to declare KP a 'hard area' due to the law and order in the province over the last one decade. However, the federal government did not heed the demand," sources told The News.

The sources added that now the PTI was in power at the centre and it remains to be seen whether the federal government would consider the request or turn it down.

"The province is facing an acute shortage of officers in all senior grades, from grade-18 to grade-21. A large number of junior policemen have been posted against the senior positions due to the dearth of officers in upper grades," the sources said.

The sources said the former IGPs wrote letters to the Interior Ministry and other officials concerned on several occasions in the past to help police improve the law and order in KP by posting senior officers.

Hardly a few were transferred to the province while many managed to be posted out KP in recent years.

"Now many hope the PTI that presents the KP police as one of its success stories while ruling the province will help the force by ending the shortage of senior police officers as well as weapons, ammunition and other requirements," said the sources. Due to the shortage of officers, some deputy inspectors general (DIGs) of police in grade-21 are posted additional IGPs, a grade-21 position.

Besides, a number of grade-19 officers are working as grade-20 DIGs. The same is the case with SPs, DSPs and junior grades. The shortage can be gauged from the fact that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police in December had to approve a policy to post grade-17 deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) as district police officers (DPOs) due to non-availability of cops in the required grades.

"The policy board while keeping in view the acute shortage of officers in grade-19 and grade-18 has approved that the DSPs who have qualified the Junior Command Course (JCC) can be posted as DPOs due to non-availability of officers," a source quoted from the minutes of the meeting held on December 22.

Under the policy, the sources said, the list of all JCC qualified DSPs shall be sent to the respective regional police officers along with a questionnaire for the handwritten report. "Besides, it has been decided that the deputy inspector general of police headquarters, AIG Establishment and others concerned will check their annual confidential reports, integrity and professional competence before being posted as DSPs as DPOs," the sources added.