The chief minister has strengthened the Punjab Emergency Service Rescue 1122 by approving the establishment of nine divisional urban search and rescue teams and Rescue 1122 in remaining 62 tehsils of the Punjab in the current fiscal year. "A comprehensive and transparent, mechanism for purchase of latest machinery and equipment is being followed," sources have claimed.
The sources also say the Punjab home secretary has notified a procurement committee to execute the procurement process for purchase of latest machinery and equipment required for the teams of Lahore and Rawalpindi. Rescue (Finance) Deputy Director Naeem Mukhtar has been entrusted with the additional responsibility till June as (Procurement) Deputy Director to expedite the work and complete the project well in time, while representatives from the army, the Capital and Lahore Development Authorities, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority and the Punjab Emergency Service are members of the procurement committee.
Rescue 1122 is practising clearly defined policy and procedures of Procurement, Finance and Internal Audit to ensure regulations and transparency in the procedures. Officers are exercising their powers according to regulations framed by the Punjab government and recruitment of Rescue officers/ is done in the transparent manner after open advertisement of all posts in accordance with the recruitment policy of the Emergency Service and the Punjab government.
In total of 195 officers and 5,609 rescuers were regularised in 2009 by the Home Department in compliance with a decision by the Punjab Emergency Council held under the chief minister's chairmanship. The External audit of the Emergency Service is conducted by the Punjab Audit director general almost every year. To comply with the provisions of the Punjab Emergency Service Financial Rules and directions of the Audit director general, the internal audit team has been set up to ensure financial discipline. The proceedings of the Department Accounts Committee and the Special Departmental Accounts Committee are held under the chairmanship of competent authorities to discuss and streamline the financial matters.
The Rescue 1122 has ensured provision of quality emergency services to helpless victims of emergencies and disasters and maintained its standards since its inception in October 2004. The Rescue, which is already operational in all districts and 15 tehsils, has reportedly rescued over four million victims of different emergencies and maintained average response time of less than seven minutes all over the Punjab.