By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: Families of police officers killed in the line of duty in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will receive up to Rs35m in compensation under a package announced by the provincial governor on Friday, which also replaces plot allotments with cash.
Faisal Karim Kundi unveiled the changes five days after the federal government imposed an emergency and governor’s rule in the province, suspending the elected administration led by Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and making Mr Kundi the province’s chief executive. He said the measures were part of efforts to promote peace in a province that has seen a surge in militant violence.
Under the revised scheme, the families of constables, head constables, assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs), sub-inspectors and inspectors who are killed will receive Rs17m, up from Rs11m. Families of deputy superintendents (DSPs) and assistant superintendents (ASPs) will receive Rs25m, compared with Rs16m before.
The families of superintendents (SPs), senior superintendents (SSPs), assistant inspectors general and all officers in grades 18 and 19 will receive Rs30m, up from Rs21m. For deputy inspectors general, inspectors general and grade 20 officers, the payout rises from Rs21m to Rs35m.
Kundi said an increase in compensation for injured officers was long overdue. He said the government had made “significant increases” for those severely hurt or permanently disabled. Compensation for permanent disability rises tenfold, from Rs500,000 to Rs5m, while the payment for severe injuries goes from Rs100,000 to Rs1.5m.
The governor said families of slain officers had previously been given plots of land, but the system had proved impractical for many. Relatives living in Dera Ismail Khan or Bannu, he said, could be allotted land in Nowshera or Swabi, far from their homes.
Families will now receive cash instead, which Mr Kundi said would let them decide whether to rent a house or buy a plot or a home wherever they chose. Families of killed constables and head constables will receive Rs18m in place of a five-marla plot. Families of ASIs, sub-inspectors and inspectors will receive Rs25m instead of a seven-marla plot. DSPs and ASPs, who were entitled to a 10-marla plot, will receive Rs30m. For officers of SP or SSP rank and above, the payment is Rs70m in lieu of a one-kanal plot.
Kundi also acknowledged that the threat to police extends beyond serving officers. Noting that terrorists could target their families, he said a new compensation scheme would cover such attacks. If an officer’s spouse or children are killed, the family will receive Rs5m. If parents or siblings are killed, the government will pay Rs3m.
A further package covers officers killed while off duty. Families of constables, head constables, ASIs and inspectors will receive Rs4m, those of DSPs and ASPs Rs5m, and those of SPs, SSPs and officers in grades 18 and 19 Rs7m.
The government will also pay Rs1m towards the weddings of slain officers’ daughters, which Mr Kundi described as “essential financial assistance at an important stage of the families’ lives”. A new fund will pay for the education of their children, including study abroad.
The governor said police salaries had been raised by more than expected so that pay packages would be more attractive than those offered in other provinces. He added that he had told officials to speed up recruitment to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, which has 17,000 vacancies.
“The days of rifts between the Centre and the province are gone,” Mr Kundi said. “We now have to work together for the province’s peace and prosperity.”
The announcement follows a high-level meeting at Governor House on Tuesday, chaired by Mr Kundi, at which proposals to enhance the 2025 compensation package for police martyrs and injured personnel were reviewed. Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed briefed the meeting on proposals to raise salaries, and the governor ordered a summary to be submitted without delay.
The day before, Mr Kundi told a press conference that the martyrs’ package would be increased and children of the dead would receive free education. He said policies would now come from Islamabad rather than Kabul. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has meanwhile given the provincial police 10 armoured personnel carriers on behalf of the federal government.
The governor’s rule remains politically fraught. Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate approved the presidential proclamation on Wednesday, despite protests from opposition lawmakers. The proclamation transferred executive powers to the governor, assisted by an 11-member advisory council. Lawmakers were told more than 3,787 militant incidents had been recorded in the province over the past year, and the provincial government was accused of focusing on political activity rather than counterterrorism.
The PTI, which has governed the province since 2013, rejects that account. A party spokesman said the measures were intended to weaken the PTI and override the democratic will of the province’s people. On Wednesday, party chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan filed a petition in the Peshawar High Court asking it to declare the emergency and governor’s rule null and void.
The emergency was declared as the PTI was marching on Islamabad to demand Mr Khan’s release. The party’s provincial president claimed on X that he and Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had been arrested.
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