In a draft for a new career policy for the Police Service of Pakistan (PSPs), the government has proposed revival of the erstwhile All Pakistan Unified Group and provision of a reasonable quota for PSP officers in the Federal Secretariat in BS-20 to BS-22.

The draft also proposes that promotion of PSP officers should be strictly linked to the requirements of field, staff and training assignments, mandatory and annual capacity building courses, 360-degree evaluation, mandatory rotation and suitability for the senior leadership positions.

It further proposes expansion of hard areas for PSP officers to interior of Sindh, particularly the districts of Khairpur, Shikarpur, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Ghotki and Tharparkar, to southern Punjab by including the districts of Rajanpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bhakkar, Layyah, Muzaffar­garh and Bhawalnagar and to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by including Kohat district.

In the earlier arrangements, only Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan were hard areas for the PSP officers.

Proposed policy will have enormous impact on future services of senior police officers and entire police force

Several new features/plans have been added to the policy draft which has been prepared by the Establishment Division and then forwarded to Prime Minister Imran Khan for final approval.

The policy will have enormous impact on the future services of senior police officers and Pakistan’s entire police force.

Rotation policy

The rotation policy is to be implemented by a selection committee headed by the establishment secretary with the chief secretaries of the provinces as its members. The committee should meet twice a year to recommend postings/transfers to the prescribed approving authorities.

The rotation for PSP cadre should envisage a policy keeping in view the 16 police-related organizations.

All secondments or deputations to institutions like the National Accountability Bureau, Anti-Narcotics Force and United Nations etc may also be treated as regular duty and service in the federal government.

It is proposed for the first time that the mandatory tenure of posting in all federal government organisations may be fixed at a minimum period of four years in BS-18, 19 and 20 collectively and a maximum period of 12 years.

To attain eligibility for promotion to BS21, an officer should have served a minimum of four years in federal government and a minimum of two years in a hard area.

The officers may be rotated for posting in hard areas on the basis of “least rotated transfer first” and in order of seniority.

Since the policy envisages rotation of PSP officers, respective IGPs of the provinces and heads of all police organisations may also be made part of the selection committee.

PSP officers must be required to be posted at the staff, field and training assignments in BS-18, 19 and 20.

A separate section may be established in the establishment division for career planning of PSP officers.

A senior PSP officer preferably in BS-21 should be posted as additional secretary of the interior ministry for better coordination.

A successful rotation policy must include a comprehensive welfare package to make the rotation smooth, workable and convenient. In BS-17, the officer shall have at least one year in rural sub-division and one year in urban sub-division.

PSP officers may be required to serve in Frontier Constabulary for one year immediately on promotion to BS-18, instead of BS-17.

The officers during first year of promotion in BS-18 shall not be considered for posting as district superintendent of police. They should serve initially as additional SP or SP investigation. For postings seniors will get a preference over juniors.

In BS-18 and 19, the officer who has completed two consecutive field assignments or three years in field, whichever is earlier, should not be considered for third back-to-back field assignment.

Since a PSP officer is posted on same assignments in BS-18 and 19, these two grades may be treated as one block.

Officers in BS-19 shall be considered for bigger and urban districts.

An officer should not be moved to a field posting when less than a year is left to his superannuation. The officers should not be assessed on the basis of annual performance evaluation report alone. The misconduct generated by his seniors should also be part of the assessment pack.

On secondment or on deputation in any organisation in the country or abroad, the reports of the organisations may be considered as performance evaluation reports and the requirement of earning an ACR.

An officer twice deferred for want of performance or integrity or twice superseded for any reason by a duly constituted Central Selection Board shall not be considered for promotion in future.

PSP officers will undergo a medical and psychological examination every year to ascertain their suitability for field assignments and future promotions.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2018