• 485 police stations to get budgetary allocations directly for day-to-day expenditure for the first time
• Rs4bn to be spent on surveillance cameras, command centre to combat rising tide of crime in Karachi • Rs100m for two DNA testing facilities in Karachi, Jamshoro

KARACHI: The Sindh government has allocated Rs 172 billion for law and order in the budget for the financial year 2024-25.

This was stated by Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, who also holds the portfolio of finance ministry, while delivering the budget speech inside the Sindh Assembly on Friday.

He pointed out that for policing and public safety, the budget had been estimated at Rs172bn in the next financial year as compared to Rs133bn in the outgoing financial year with an increase of 29pc.

Highlighting some of the major initiatives taken by the provincial government for policing, the CM said that ‘fiscal decentralisation in police’ had been introduced. “For the first time, 485 police station-specific budgets have been allocated to enable them to meet their fuel, repair and maintenance, and day-to-day expenditures to serve communities,” he said.

CM spokesperson Rasheed Channa told Dawn that there were around 600 police stations across the province which would go under ‘rationalisation’ and the total number would be 485 as ‘smart police stations’ would be set up in different cities for better policing.

As per budget documents, Rs3.744bn had been earmarked for 484 police stations for ‘strengthening’ the police department at the police station level.

The documents also showed that Rs1.8bn for the purchase of arms and ammunition and Rs200 million for anti-riot equipment had been earmarked for next financial year. “The government of Sindh is working on health insurance coverage for the police force, for which Rs4.962bn is allocated,” he said.

“To motivate the field force of Sindh police for effective response in the line of duty, the government of Sindh has allocated Rs232.928m,” he added.

The budget papers also said that Rs100m had also been allocated for two DNA testing facilities at the International Centre for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) at the University of Karachi and Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro.

The chief minister in his budget speech also announced that for “combating the rising tide of crimes in Karachi and ensuring better policing in the metropolis, we spent Rs3.5bn in the current financial year for procurement of the cameras which will be installed from the beginning of the next financial year.”

He said that in addition, Rs1bn for construction of ‘state of the art’ command and control centres had also been spent. “The work is in progress and very soon the city of Karachi will be brought at par with the developed cities around the world with regards to crime detection and control,” added the province’s chief executive.

As far as prisons were concerned, he said the govt had allocated Rs212.5m for the procurement of plant, machinery, hardware, software, arms and ammunition etc to ‘enhance the security’ of the jails.

Considering the rise in inflation and increase in prices of commodities and rates per head, the provincial government had increased the yearly allocation under ‘feeding diet charges’ to Rs2.745bn to all prisoners in Sindh.

The law and order budget also said that Rs97.763m had been allocated for newly established Advocate General and Prosecutor General Offices at Mirpurkhas and district public prosecutor officer Sajawal ‘to enable the population of Central Sindh to have an easy approach to the apex courts.’

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2024