The teasing in the name of security irked visitors to State Life Insurance Corporation (Slic) Building in Peshawar Cantonment facing a lot of difficulties in entrance to the building, that houses a number of commercial offices.
The nine-storey building situated on the Mall here Peshawar, housing all-important public and private sector offices visited by thousands of visitors every day. However, the teasing and harassment of the visitors in the name of security are keeping them away to enter the building.
The agony of the matter is that although the personnel of a private security agency deployed at the entrances are equipped with frisking machines for body search, the visitors are required to deposit the copy of their National Identity Cards (NICs) to which majority of the visitors show reluctancy.
The building besides Slic zonal office also housing the offices of vastly visited Small & Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda), Security Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Daily Dawn, and regional offices of various commercial banks in the provincial metropolis.
The security personnel are men, due to which women visitors are facing a lot of harassment during search of their purses and handbags. The exchange of hot words and arguments at the entrance of the State Life Building has become a routine matter.
"A proposal for the installation of walk-in gates has already been sent to the Slic head office. However, it would take some time as usually occurred in all public sector offices," said Arbab, manager Estates, Peshawar.
"The security arrangements had been made in larger interest of the general public as building is at the hit list of the terrorists," said Slic zonal chief. However, he said the management of the building would like to take measures for the mitigation of the grievances of the visitors to the building. He said the walk-in gates would be installed to resolve the security problem at the entrance.
The Slic zonal chief also appealed to the general public and visitors to the building to cooperate with the security personnel in preventing any untoward incident in the Slic building.