Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that the police system in Pakistan has been plagued by corruption, losing their trust among the people.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Lahore Ring Road Police Force (LRRPF) at Abdullah Gull Interchange Tuesday, he said though a good number of cops had been discharging their duties with honesty, the department’s image was bleak because of black sheep. He called upon the LRRPF to prove itself better than the Motorway Police and win heart of the masses through hard work, good behavior and polite attitude.

Congratulating over the New Year, the chief minister hoped that the year 2013 would bring blessings to the people of Pakistan and increase the dignity and respect of 18 crore Pakistanis.

The chief minister said the Punjab government had taken concrete steps to rid the citizens of traffic problems as well as to put the traffic system on modern lines. He said an autonomous LRRPF had been established for better traffic management.

All 324 officers and officials of the force had been selected purely on merit, he said, expressing the hope that the officers and officials of Ring Road would perform their official duty with honesty, dedication and commitment. He said that Ring Road Police Force would uproot the scourge of safarish and bribery.

Shahbaz Sharif said, in case of any accident, LRRPF had been trained to reach the scene within three minutes alongwith regularly patrolling the Ring Road. He said the northern loop of Ring Road had been completed, while southern loop would also be constructed. Earlier, Ring Road Authority Rashid Mahmood Langrial gave a detailed briefing on formulating and training of Ring Road Police Force.

Also, the chief minister announced two lakhs solar lamps for the students of metric and intermediate under “Ujala Programme” so that they could combat the energy crisis to continue their studies.

Presiding over a high-level meeting held in connection with the “Chief Minister Ujala Programme”, at Model Town, on Tuesday, the CM said the solar lamps would be distributed free of cost among the students of government educational institutions and all arrangements had been made in this connection. “The energy crisis has badly impacted agriculture, industry, commerce, education, health and other social sectors which has not only made life of the people miserable but has also rendered millions of workers jobless because of closure of industries,” the CM held.

Meanwhile, inaugurating modern system of pension payment, at Chief Minister Secretariat Tuesday, the chief minister said good governance had been promoted in the province, while concrete steps had been taken for provision of best services to the citizens.

He said the modern system of payment of pension to the government servants was another significant step towards good governance. Under the new system, the government servants would get their pension through their bank accounts on the pattern of salary, thus ridding them of the difficult process of receiving their pension.

Shahbaz Sharif said modern system of pension payment was a significant step of the provincial government whereof millions of government employees would get benefit. Congratulating the chief secretary, secretary finance, and the whole team over introducing modern system of pension payment, he directed that complete implementation of this system should be ensured.

He said that this pilot project, which has been initiated from Lahore, should also include one district each of South as well as Central Punjab, while this programme should be expanded to all districts of the province.

Earlier, addressing the meeting, Secretary Finance, Tariq Bajwa said that Punjab government had formulated a new method of pension payment, under which pension would be paid only through computerised pension roll. He said the new system would be applicable on those government servants who would retire from first January 2013.