'Maintenance of law and order government's top priority'

Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif has said maintenance of law and order is government's top priority. He was presiding over a high level meeting to review law and order situation and performance of Elite Force at Chief Minister's Secretariat, here Wednesday.
Senior Advisor Sardar Zulfiqar Ali Khan Khosa, Member Provincial Assembly Colonel Shuja Khanzada (Retd), Advisor Jehanzeb Barki, Chief Secretary, Inspector General Police, Home Secretary, Additional IG Elite Force, Commandant Elite Force and other senior officers were present.
The chief minister said that nothing could be more important in the present circumstances than maintenance of a peaceful environment. Despite limited resources, salaries of police officials have been increased substantially so that they could perform their duties properly and efficiently. He said that elite force was established for curbing terrorism and heinous crimes but later it was assigned various responsibilities due to which its performance had adversely affected.
While issuing instructions for setting up of a committee to use elite force for it main purposes and improving its efficiency further, the chief minister directed the committee to submit a report after reviewing implementation of the decisions taken during the last three years in this regard.
The chief minister said that in addition to increasing salaries of police, the Punjab government has also taken solid measures for the training of police on modern lines as well as equipping it with latest weaponry. He said that increase in the salaries of police officials was conditional to improve their efficiency but despite enhancement of salaries the desired results have not been achieved. He said that additional burden of Rs eight billion was borne as a result of increase in salaries with the hope that there would be a change in Thana culture and the traditional behaviour of police and elimination of corruption. He said that police have been given additional resources and now it was their responsibility to perform better.
He directed that basic training for police officers as well as officials at Elite Training School should be declared mandatory and Inspectors, ASPs, DSPs and SPs should also be included in the training programme so that they could perform their responsibilities efficiently during their period of posting in different districts. He said that direct recruitment of inspectors and DSPs through Punjab Public Service Commission should also be considered and recommendations should be submitted to him in this regard. The chief minister described the briefing given with regard to improving efficiency of elite force as comprehensive and said that the committee should submit its recommendations as early as possible keeping in view all aspects.