KP demands posting of senior cops to overcome shortage

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police authorities have once again written to the federal government seeking transfer of seasoned cops to the province to overcome the shortage of officers in senior grades, especially after the merger of seven districts of erstwhile Fata with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A source told The News on Friday that the authorities concerned approached the federal government through the provincial government on a number of times, but the requests went unheeded.

The province had also demanded “Hard Area” status like that of Balochistan after terrorist attacks were at peak in KP in a bid to get more seasoned officers posted here. However, the plea about shortage of officers was always ignored.

“The provincial police authorities through the Home Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have once again requested the federal government to transfer more senior officers, especially those in grade-19 and grade-18 for posting in the field and offices in the province,” a source told The News.

The source added that the KP Police in the letter informed the Home Department and the Establishment Division Islamabad that there were a total of 98 sanctioned positions of Police Service of Pakistan (PSPs) in grade-19 and grade-18 in the province. However, the number of PSPs currently posted in these grades was 51 only.

“Of the 42 posts of grade-19, the province currently has 19 PSP officers and is facing a shortage of 55 percent. Of the 56 sanctioned positions in grade-18 the present strength is only 32 and the shortfall is 43 percent,” the source added. The source said that a large number of junior officers had to be posted as district police officers (DPOs) and superintendent of police (SPs) in the province due to shortage of officers in grade-18 and grade-19. The dearth has further increased in recent months after the KP Police moved into seven tribal districts that have been merged with the province. “Getting more PSPs in grade-19 and 18 will increase the pool and provide more options to the IGP to choose clean and competent DPOs, including those in the newly merged districts,” the source added.

A source said that there was 100 percent shortage of grade-21 officers in the province. There are five vacancies of grade-21 additional inspector general of police (Ad IGPs) in KP and all these positions are occupied by grade-20 officers. Some of the grade-20 deputy inspectors general (DIGs) are in the promotion zone and have been posted as Ad IGPs on the sanctioned posts. The province is also short of the sanctioned strength of senior cops in grade-20.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in KP from 2013-2018 was demanding “Hard Area” status for the province. It was also seeking posting of more senior policemen in the province to overcome the shortage. The party is now in power in both the centre and KP and has the authority to respond positively to these demands by the province. Senior officers have to serve for a certain mandatory period in “Hard Area” to meet the criteria for posting in top grades. A large number of senior officers were transferred to Balochistan in recent years after the province was awarded the status of “Hard Area”.

The source pointed out that now the PTI was in power in the centre and it was to be seen if the federal government accepted KP’s request or turned it down as usual.