Maryam Nawaz orders PERA officers to end ‘arrogant culture’

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Monday ordered a sweeping overhaul of the Punjab Enforcement Regulatory Authority (PERA), vowing to eliminate a culture of high-handedness and arrogance among enforcement officials while making digital tracking mandatory for all field operations.

Presiding over a review meeting, Maryam Nawaz targeted the aggressive conduct employed by officers of enforcement bodies, stating that staff who abuse authority or intimidate the public have no place in the authority.

“The arrogant culture of ‘pick up the goods and get out’ will absolutely not be tolerated in the enforcement force,” she said.

“An bad reputation is highly damaging, and there will be no compromise on PERA’s goodwill. Every action must be public-friendly.”

The chief minister issued the directives despite briefing data showing that PERA has achieved a record 99 per cent conviction rate against 136 constitutional writ petitions in courts, alongside a 98 per cent success rate in cases brought before judicial magistrates and hearing officers.

To ensure institutional accountability, Maryam Nawaz ordered the “Ask PERA” public portal to be made more active for grievance redressal and mandated that the PERA Director General directly increase public interaction.

She also announced that digital requisition orders will now be compulsory for all enforcement and anti-encroachment actions, ensuring every operation is logged into a centralised database before it occurs.

Officials briefed the meeting that PERA is fully transitioning its ticketing and fine system to an electronic platform to eliminate manual manipulation.

The meeting was told that the authority has already processed more than 62,000 digital requisitions and conducted over 1.52 million inspections across the province, leading to the sealing of 3,509 shops for legal violations.

Under its ongoing anti-encroachment campaign, PERA has retrieved over 21,000 kanals (approximately 2,625 acres) of state land and arrested 1,700 individuals for illegal encroachments and artificial price hiking, the meeting was told.

The meeting also highlighted internal disciplinary crackdowns within the body.

The meeting was told that at least 351 employees borrowed from other government departments were sent back to their parent departments for breach of discipline.

It was said that penalties were handed down to 700 staff members, with 20 employees dismissed from service for gross negligence.

The meeting was told that to institutionalise transparency, an internal affairs unit is being established, and a dedicated training academy is under construction in Kallar Kahar to instill a more disciplined and public-oriented ethos in the force.

The authority expects to complete its transition to a fully permanent, independently recruited staff by June 2027, it was said.