The Sindh government has announced that it will recruit 2,000 ex-servicemen for the security of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

Presenting a budget proposal for the fiscal year 2016-17, provincial finance minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday said the Sindh government has kept law and order as one of its topmost priorities.

The Home Department (including police, jails, rangers and other security agencies) is the second largest department in terms of resource allocation with a share of 14.4 percent in total current revenue expenditure in FY17.

"This is a clear proof of our commitment to give citizens of this province a peaceful and tranquil environment where they can pursue their goals of a better living," he added.

He also announced that the provincial government will take more steps to improve the police operations. As per the announcement, some 20,000 more personnel will be recruited, of which 10,000 posts that were released during this fiscal year included 2,000 ex-servicemen for CPEC security, 6,000 for traffic police Karachi and 2,000 personnel for RRF Centre.

For next financial year, 10,000 new posts have been created. Out of these, 4,000 posts will be for Karachi range, 1,000 for Hyderabad, 750 for Larkana, 600 for Mirpurkhas, 550 for SBA, 600 for Sukkur and 2,500 posts for IT Cadre. A recruitment policy has been framed to ensure merit and transparency.

A supervisory board will be formed to ensure merit-based recruitment's. The Home Department has been allocated Rs 82.3 billion in FY17 against current fiscal year's budget estimates of Rs 70.8 billion; showing an increase of 16 percent.

With an increase of 17 percent, the budget for Sindh Police has been enhanced from Rs 63.3 billion to Rs 74 billion. This includes SNE allocation of Rs 8.9 billion for police.

The ADP for the Home Department has been pitched at Rs 2 billion. The three key pillars of the government's strategy to improve the performance of police are the welfare of the police personnel, making current operations more efficient and the capacity building of the force.

The minister said that Sindh law enforcement personnel sacrifice their lives for the safety and security of the citizens. Hence, the need was felt to actively work for their welfare, therefore the compensation for police personnel who embrace Shahadat has been enhanced from Rs 2 million to Rs 5 million.

Development of land that will be allotted to the heirs of the Shaheed will be ensured. Further, recruitment of one child of the Shaheed into government job will be made in accordance with the qualification.

In addition, Sindh Police Welfare and Maintenance Board will be formed and civilians will also be made part of it to ensure transparency.

The number of ATC courts has also been increased to bolster counter-terrorism efforts and biometric attendance has been introduced at police training schools and their curriculum has also been revised to include specialised subjects.

Major procurement of machinery & equipment has been done including arms and ammunition, APCs and operational vehicles to further improve the performance of police. Rupees 5.2 billion have also been allocated to SNE for procurement of physical assets (Rs 2.5 billion for purchase of transport; Rs 0.65 billion for purchase of machinery; and Rs 2 billion for purchase of other assets including arms and ammunition)

Some 200 prosecuting inspectors and 200 inspectors will be recruited to improve prosecution. GSM locators are a very important tool for conducting investigations and Rs 200 million have been allocated for their purchase and repair.

In order to improve the intelligence gathering mechanism, a data centre and intelligence school is going to be created in the Special Branch for which provision of Rs 281 million has been reserved for the financial year 2016.

A Forensic Science Laboratory which is the basic requirement of investigation and an explosive laboratory will be developed at a cost of Rs 2.5 billion. A unified command and control surveillance system will be put in place with the help of cameras installed by the KMC and the police department.

Sindh government has also announced that it will revamp the Police Response Centre (Madadgar 15) and the Driving License Branch, beside automation of criminal record is under process which will be followed by that of human resource.

The financial assistance to the widows of police personnel will be disbursed through ATM cards like BISP. The Bomb Disposal Squad will also be expanded.