LAHORE: The Punjab Police has prepared a new package for the financial support of policemen who suffered injuries in various operations.

An injured policeman will now get Rs2.5 million instead of Rs1m while a policeman completely disabled and bed-ridden will get Rs10m as financial assistance.

It has also been decided to make the post of permanently disabled personnel a special post on the pattern of martyred personnel. All this is a part of the new package prepared by the additional IG Welfare and Finance for the financial support of policemen.

With this initiative, the martyred and injured policemen will not only be able to get salary till retirement but also new recruits will be able to replace them on their seats.

The AIG Welfare and Finance has sent these recommendations to the IGP for approval.

Details of the package were shared in a meeting chaired by Inspector General of Punjab Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar at the Central Police Office on Saturday. The IGP met Ghazi Muhammad Rizwan of the Punjab Police who became disabled due to gunshots during an encounter with robbers in Sheikhupura.

The IGP directed that the medical package for rehabilitation and treatment of the policemen who got disabled during field duty operations should be improved and provision of artificial limbs, electric wheelchairs, beds, medicines and services of expert physiotherapists should be provided to them.

He said all possible measures should be taken for rehabilitation of the injured and disabled policemen in the country and abroad.

The IGP said the best welfare of martyrs as well as injured policemen was also among the priorities of the department and all the regional police officers (RPOs) and district police officers (DPOs) should keep in close touch with brave injured policemen in their respective districts.

DIG Ahsan Younas and SSP Faisal Shahzad and other officers were also present on this occasion.

Earlier, during a visit to the Police Lines, Qila Gujjar Singh, IGP Anwar ordered improvement in security arrangements in all police lines of the province. He issued directions for improvement in the quality of all facilities, including mess menu and residential barracks, for the personnel.

He directed that measures should be taken in consultation with the retired officers such as Qalb-i-Abbas and Mushtaq Sukhera who had served as SP headquarters to improve the food quality in the mess and residential barracks. He said while selecting the food menu, suggestions of the police personnel should also be taken into consideration.

The police chief said he would conduct a mandatory inspection of the residential barracks and mess of the personnel in the police lines and all RPOs and DPOs should check and improve the arrangements of the residential barracks and mess under their supervision.

He said that in the districts where he could not go himself, officers from the Central Police Office would be sent to the police lines for surprise visits so all the officers should ensure timely measures under personal supervision.

The IGP directed that healthy activities should be promoted in all police lines according to hygiene principles and effective use of available resources for accommodation and training of personnel should be ensured.

During the visit, he was accompanied by Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman.

IGP Dr Usman Anwar and Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar inspected security arrangements of Police Lines, mess and residential barracks besides other matters.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2023