LAHORE: The Punjab Home Department has sought funds of over Rs 1.9 billion for its 37 developmental schemes in the upcoming provincial Annual Development Programme (ADP) for 2021-22. Most of the developmental schemes are related to the protection of children – the area on which first lady Bushra Imran had shown special interest during her very visit to the provincial capital.
In this regard, sources said that the Home department has sent a budget proposal to the Punjab Planning and Development (P&D) Department for further consideration. As per the proposal, the home department has demanded a sum of Rs 133 million for the establishments of Child Protection and Welfare Bureaus (CP&WB) in Dera Ghazi Khan, Sargodha, Multan, Rawalpindi and Faisalabad districts of the province.
Similarly, the sources said that a sum of Rs 120 million was further demanded for the establishments of “child protection units” in Muzaffargarh, Hafizabad, Chakwal, Jehlum, Kasur, Vehari, Mianwali, Bakhar, Pakpattan, Rajanpur, Layyah and Jhang.
The sources further said that the Punjab government is also working with help of local and international experts to bring new amendments to the existing child protection laws with an aim to ensure further protection of children, especially in violence and heinous crimes, by introducing stricter punishments against perpetrators.
Moreover, the Home department also demanded Rs 30.5 million for setting up “satellite centres” of the Punjab Forensic Science Agency (PFSA) in Mianwali, Toba Tek Singh and Rahim Yar Khan, sources added.
In addition, a sum of Rs 50.8 million was also sought for the establishment of information management system under this head,’ they mentioned.
“For the construction of Civil Defense Office in Multan, more than Rs 2.6 million was also proposed,” they further said.
Regarding the proposed budget of law enforcement agencies, the sources said the Punjab police have demanded over Rs 15.82 billion for the execution of its nearly 105 developmental schemes.
The sources said that Police department has requested to allocate Rs 40.5 million for the construction/renovation of police stations of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in Mianwali, Bakhar, Sheikhupura, Umerkot and Rajanpur.
According to the proposal, the sources added, the Police department has also demanded Rs 170.5 million for the installation of CCTV cameras at entry and exit points of the provincial capital.
It may be mentioned that a few months ago, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani had announced that the Police department would mark this year as the year of police stations as most of the funds allocated in the forthcoming ADP would be spent on the construction/renovation of police stations across Punjab.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021