IGP says service structure for tribal districts policemen approved

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police have approved the service structure for all the former Khassadars and Levies personnel inducted into the provincial police force a few years back and sent it to the government to get the nod.

Thousands of these cops in the erstwhile tribal areas were deprived of promotions after there was no proper service structure.

Most of them were inducted as constables in BPS-5. Even some of those serving in senior positions were inducted in Grade-5 despite wearing ranks of officers.

“We have made a proper service structure for all the former Khassadars and Levies personnel absorbed in the KP Police. Their initial training will be considered as recruit training while their seniority will be fixed from the date they were inducted in the police force,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan told The News. He said the case has been sent for approval to the government.

The IGP added this was a longstanding demand of thousands of policemen from the areas where the cops have offered sacrifices for peace in the last many years.

“The respective regional and district police officers will place these cops in the seniority list who will be sent for further courses for promotions,” said Akhtar Hayat.

The police chief added this will bring policemen into the mainstream and will end the sense of deprivation among them.

It is worth mentioning that the KP extended policing to the erstwhile tribal areas in 2018-19. The KP cabinet had approved the absorption of around 29,000 personnel of the Levies and Khassadar

forces. The cops from the tribal districts were absorbed in the KP Police under Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khassadar

Act 2019 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Levies Act 2019.

It was decided that the absorption process would be completed in two phases. In the first phase, all those cleared were absorbed while in the second stage, the cases of others were settled before their absorption in the force. There were a number of complaints in different tribal districts as authorities were said to have inducted many officials without proper procedure. In case of any major irregularity, these cases were said to be properly probed for a fair absorption process of the law enforcers from the merged districts.

There was also a plan to recruit around 22,000 more personnel to assist the inducted khassadars and Levies in maintaining law and order in the districts worst-hit by terrorism for years.