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| IGP Bashir Ahmed Memon |
IGP Memon declines the package and asks govt to revoke it
A
Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) officer, belonging to interior Sindh, has won
the hearts and minds of people in the country’s extreme north by turning down an
attractive post-retirement package offered by the cash-strapped Azad Jammu and
Kashmir (AJK) government.
Ever
since, the response of Bashir Ahmed Memon, Inspector General of Police (IGP) in
AJK, is in circulation, the social media has been flooded with comments eulogizing
his “exceptional” gesture in a society where majority of the government servants
carries the notoriety of screwing benefits out of official kitty.
At
the same time, the PML-N led AJK government is also under scathing criticism
for “doling out taxpayers’ money” in sheer disregard to its tall claims on
fiscal and administrative reforms.
It
was on March 28, when the AJK Services and General Administration Department
(S&GAD) clandestinely issued a notification to supplement the facilities admissible
to the chief secretaries under an earlier notification issued on June 15, 2006
when the region was reeling from the aftereffects of a devastating earthquake.
Through
the June 15, 2006 notification, which was renewed on June 4, 2011, the chief
secretaries were offered the services of a cook and a driver for lifetime,
after their retirement, from the AJK taxpayers’ money.
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| S&GAD notification |
The
March 28 notification not only added 800 free local phone calls, 800 units of electricity,
25 cubic hectometre (25million cubic metre) gas and 200 litres petrol per month
to the post-retirement benefits of the chief secretaries but it went on to
declare the admissibility of the same benefits to the IGPs as well, after their
retirement.
The
chief secretaries and IGPs are posted in AJK by
the federal government under Karachi agreement of 1949 for a tenure that has
rarely exceeded three years. They are commonly referred to as ‘lent officers.’
While the chief secretaries, already enjoying
the services of cook and driver, were happy with the additional facilities, the
response of IGP Memon to the notification not only baffled the government but it
also plunged her to moral low ground, sources within the bureaucracy confided
to this scribe.
“Prima facie, these privileges would amount to putting additional burden
on the exchequer of the state (AJK),” Memon maintained in a demi-official
letter to Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, a copy of which was available with this scribe.
“The AJK
IGPs belong to the Police Service of Pakistan (group) and their services are
acquired from the federal government for a limited period, during which they
enjoy all those perks and privileges admissible to this office… And I also draw
an attractive salary and other benefits for my services here,” he added.
Continuing, Memon said holding the office of
IGP and leading the police force in AJK with honor and dignity was in itself a great
privilege and a matter of pride for him.
“I am thankful to the Almighty as well as the
government and people of Azad Kashmir for the love and respect I enjoy here and
does not consider myself worthy of these benefits, particularly when the AJK police
is already facing acute shortage of manpower,” Mr Memon said, and called upon Mr
Haider to revoke the notification from the date of issuance.
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| IGP Memon with this scribe |
When contacted, Memon confirmed that he had
asked the government to withdraw the notification in the wake of its poor
fiscal health and pressing local needs.
He said he earnestly believed that there was no
justification for the ‘lent officers’ to claim these benefits from the AJK
exchequer, a place where they served for a short term.
“To me, my constable serving in front of Indian
guns along the Line of Control or the families of retired junior grade police
personnel deserve this amount more than a retired IGP,” he said.
Civil society was all praise for Memon.
“Hats off to Mr Memon. He has touched our
hearts and taught a lesson to the local official machinery which always runs
for more and more perks and privileges,” said Arisha Ali Khan, an MPhil student
from Mirpur.
Defending the decision, AJK minister for finance
Dr Najeeb Naqi maintained that since all other provinces, particularly Punjab, were
offering same or more benefits to retired chief secretaries and IGPs, “we have
just replicated them.”
When he was reminded that unlike Punjab AJK
faced acute shortage of funds every month, even for payment of salaries and
pension, he claimed that the additional funds for these benefits would also be
provided by the central government.”
But there was hardly any voice in favour of the
government.
“The
IGP’s response is a slap in the face of a government that has gone back on its
promises to curtail unnecessary expenditures,” remarked Raja Mansoor, a civil
society activist from Muzaffarabad.
“In fact
the IGP has exposed the duplicity of this deficit ridden government that flatters
lent officers with generous offers in spite of carrying a begging bowl to seek
funds from Islamabad,” he added.
It
may be mentioned here that the AJK government has been facing an “accumulative
shortfall” of about Rs 25 billion in its receipts and expenditures since
2009-10.
Every
month, payment of salaries and pensions turns out be a thorn in the side of the
government as State Bank of Pakistan stops clearance of its cheques, when it
exceeds its overdraft limit of Rs 4.5 billion.
A ruling PML-N activist was among those who showered
praise on Memon.
“By refusing to accept these perks, Mr Memon
has tried his bit to inculcate sense among us. He will always be appreciated and
remembered by us for his professionalism, humility and compassion,” said Sohail
Iqbal Awan, a resident of Muzaffarabad.
Memon, who hails from Hala in Mitiari district,
was posted as AJK IGP in March 2016.
Unlike most of his predecessors, he is
thoroughly unpretentious and moves around without police escorts.
During the days of his posting in Sindh, he had
faced three transfers in three years reportedly due to his straightforwardness.
Tariq Naqash
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