IN a move that could help realize the cherished objective of stimulating the lethargic police force Prime Minister’s Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU) has issued show-cause notices and warnings to police officers whose performance was not satisfactory. Thirty-one officers of Punjab Police have been placed in the red category over poor performance. Six officers of KP police have also been issued similar warnings while performance of some officials in Punjab, KP and GB has also been appreciated.
Back in January this year, while inaugurating a Model Police Station in his hometown of Mianwali, Prime Minister Imran Khan had emphasized that it was time for police in Punjab to move beyond the thana-kutchery culture prevalent in the country for decades and develop as a force on modern lines. In fact, it was electoral commitment of PTI to reform Punjab Police on the pattern of KP and some initial steps were also taken towards that end but the process was abandoned at the nascent stage. Performance of police is directly linked to good governance and most of the problems of the citizens can be taken care of by a responsible, honest and professional police force. With this in view, police reforms should have been priority with every government but regrettably each one of them could not resist the temptation of using the force to advance its own political agenda and vested interests. The loathsome practice of politicians maintaining control over thana-kutchery by installing their own persons for their personal benefits is continuing unabated. Though limited monitoring of performance of police is no substitute to a wholesome process of reforms but even then vigilance can also help trigger a change for the better. The present process of monitoring is confined to redressal of grievances as registered on PM’s complaint portal but not all complaints find their way to the portal or to the relevant high ups of the force. Therefore, citizens’ grievances cells should be set up right from tehsil to provincial level to register complaints against police force and initiate the required action.
