Sindh’s law and order budget for 2020-21 increased by Rs4.08bn

The Government of Sindh on Wednesday announced a budget of Rs113.87 billion for law and order for the upcoming financial year 2020-21, with an increase of more than Rs4 billion from the previous year’s budget of Rs109 billion.

Announcing the law and order budget in the provincial assembly, Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said the law and order situation is directly related to people’s social and economic development. “Our government has given continued priority to law and order because this sector is an integral part of good governance.”

Resultantly, he said, the law and order situation has significantly improved over the years. “The Sindh government has been providing adequate resources to the police department and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that they develop their capacity in view of the challenges of law and order and terrorism.”

The PA was informed that law and order and safety, including home, police, jails, Rangers and other security agencies, is one of the target functions in terms of resource allocation, with a share of 12 per cent in the total current revenue expenditure in the fiscal year 2020-21.

The home department has been allocated Rs113.87 billion in the upcoming financial year, compared to the current fiscal year’s budget estimates of Rs109.79 billion. The 2020-21 allocation includes the budget of Rs102.16 billion for the Sindh police, Rs7.23 billion for the home administration and Rs4.48 billion for prisons.

The government has established a Provincial Public Safety & Police Complaints Commission Sindh Secretariat at a cost of Rs99 million to empower the ordinary people against bad policing.

The government has also established a facility for DNA tests at a cost of Rs100 million to make use of forensic techniques in national disasters and criminal investigations, including terrorism activities and rape cases.

Model police stations have been established at a cost of Rs361.22 million at the Clifton, Liaquatabad and Ferozabad police stations. Local crime prevention through police patrolling will be improved with the aid of Rs2 billion to upgrade the old police fleet.

Traffic police operations are being improved at a cost of Rs75.21 million. The School of Finance has been established at the Central Police Office in Karachi for the training and capacity building of the budget and accounts staff of the Sindh police in financial matters.

The District Prison Mirpurkhas has been upgraded to the Central Prison Mirpurkhas with an allocation of Rs63.65 million. The Sindh Judicial Academy will gear up its activities for grooming and imparting training to officers with the aid of Rs40 million.

Legal assistance though the Legal Aid Society will be provided to the downtrodden at a cost of Rs30.1 million. The district judiciary and the apex court will be strengthened with the provision of an additional 230 posts.

The Annual Development Programme (ADP) funds for the home department is pitched at Rs666 million, including Rs371.72 million for the police and Rs294.27 million for prisons. The ADP funds for law and parliamentary affairs is pitched at Rs784 million.

Earlier, in the budget for the year 2019-20, it was stated that the allocation for the law and order sector was increased in the non-development budget from Rs100.483 billion in the year 2018-19 to Rs109.788 billion in the following financial year 2019-20.

In that financial year, numerous milestones were achieved, a few of which included establishment of IT labs and reporting rooms at offices and police stations throughout the province. Compensation was disbursed for Shaheed (martyred) and injured personnel of the security forces from the allocated Rs1 billion. Training to the newly recruited police constables was provided at the Pakistan Army’s training centres at a cost of Rs661 million. Moreover, the officers with outstanding performances were granted cash rewards.

Five facilitation centres were established at divisional levels wherein for ordinary citizens to come for the redressal of their grievances like the issuance of character verification certificates, reporting of loss of valuable things, and filing complaints of crimes on the spot, including missing children, domestic violence and vehicle thefts.