PESHAWAR, Aug 27: Frontier lawmakers on Wednesday expressed their dissatisfaction over the poor performance of police force and proposed to the government to set up a special committee, which should look into the matter and prepare recommendations for the betterment of the affairs.

They were airing their views during the questions-answers’ hour on the performance and illegal recruitment of the policemen during the last five years in different districts of the province. They lamented that the policemen in violence-hit Frontier province were being paid lowest salaries in the country. They said that such an under-paid police force could not fight off the rising tide of terrorism and militancy in the province.

Speaking on a supplementary of his question about the recruitment of the policemen in the province, Israrullah Gandapur drew the attention of the House towards what he called the illegal recruitments of policemen in district Bannu. He said the previous government had deprived the remaining districts of their due shares in jobs. Mr Gandapur denied that the recruitments in police were made on basis of requirements and crime ratio in the districts. He said it had been made on petty regional basis. He said the previous government had totally ignored those districts which had been the hub of lawlessness.

On the request of the mover, the speaker referred the question to the concerned standing committee.

Abdus Sattar Khan from Kohistan asked a question about the disparity in the salaries of the Punjab and Frontier policemen. He said the Frontier police, which were faced with a rising phenomenon of terrorism, were more prone to the violence than the Punjab police, which dealt with the routine crimes. “Why policemen serving in the far flung areas like Kohistan and Shangla were not paid hill allowance,” he asked. Responding to the mover, Law Minister Arshid Abdullah said that the policemen serving in un-attracted areas were paid an allowance. The minister denied that the police were given any hill allowance.

“Is there any area more un-attracted than Kohistan district? It is a backward area, which does not have any infrastructure,” asked Maulavi Obaidullah, also from Kohistan. He said the Karakorum Highway was the biggest trade route that abutted on the Chinese border, but was un-manned. He proposed to the coalition government to draft a new police force, on pattern of Motorway Police, which should man the Silk Route.

Abdul Akbar Khan said: “Balochistan police are paid more allowance than the Frontier police. Our police force is more vulnerable than any other force, but it is underpaid. The recent violent occurrences are enough to assess the miseries and hardship of the force.”

The chair also referred this question to the concerned standing committee to look into the pressing details of the matter.

Mohammad Zahir Shah from Shangla drew the attention of the House towards the losses of million of rupees to be borne by the provincial government and MNA Amir Muqam after the ransacking, burning and destruction of their moveable and immoveable properties in the district. According to the home department, the total losses, it had estimated, were of Rs87.78 million. The chair deferred the question for Thursday for a discussion.

Dr Zakirullah from Lower Dir questioned the performance of the police force and said the police itself were involved in the crimes. He said the honest and law-abiding police officials, who controlled the crimes in the limits of their respective police stations, were punished by getting postings in remote areas, while the “corrupt” ones were encouraged through certificates and awards.

On a question by Dr Zakirullah Khan about the prisons in Swat and Shangla, Minister for Prisons Mian Nisar Gul informed the House that a new prison would be built in Swat, because the old building had been destroyed during the recent violence in the district. He said the government would also construct a new prison building in Shangla.

Earlier, lawmakers from Peshawar drew the attention of the House towards the plight of the students from the flood-affected areas. They asked the government to accommodate the students of all those areas in Peshawar’s educational institutions.

Later, the journalists, who were called by assembly staff to cover a meeting between the assembly speaker and the Pesco officials, protested over the attitude of the speaker and boycotted the proceedings of the House.

On Tuesday, Abdul Akbar Khan drew the attention of the chair towards the timings of the proceedings. According to the sub-clause (2) of the Article 20 of Procedure and Conduct of Business Rules, he said the business hours of the assembly in the summer started from 9.30am to 1.30pm. But, the assembly daily starts business at 11am, which continues till 2.30pm. Despite gross violation of assembly rules, on Wednesday, the session began at 11.55am, more than two hours late. Later, the journalists decided that they would not cover the proceedings after 1.30pm.