RAWALPINDI: The Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority`s (Pera) Rawalpindi chapter will become functional by next month as work on the establishment of seven police stations has commenced after an allocation of Rs544.62 million.

A senior official from the district administration told Dawn that Pera will be established to oversee the enforcement of special laws related to price control, hoarding and land management.

He said that seven police stations would be built in Rawalpindi district under theauthority.

`There will be one police station each in Rawalpindi city, cantonment, Saddar, Kahuta, Taxila, Kallar Syedan and Gujar Khan,` the senior official said.

He said the new enforcement authority had been created to assist the civil administration in price control, anti-encroachments, enforcement of special laws and other administrative matters.

`The 13-member authority is chaired by the Punjab chief minister while the province`s chief secretary holds the position of vice-chairman,` the official said, adding that at the district level, there will be a seven-member district enforce-ment and regulatory board.

`Deputy commissioners will head the district-level bodies, while the additional deputy commissioners would act as their general secretaries,` the official said.

The board will include a district police officer, district prosecutor, district attorney and heads of district departments, he said.

At the tehsil level, he said that the total number of officials would be 45.

`Investigation officers will be recruited soon while some officials will be deputed from other departments,` the official said.

He said that the new force would have its own uniform andthe government had asked officials to recruit young graduates for the enforcement authority.

Speaking about the duties of the new staff, he said the officers will be responsible for the removal of illegal encroachments at the tehsil level, checking prices and handling revenue matters.

He said that in Rawalpindi city, the enforcement authority`s police station would be established on Murree Road while for cantonment areas, the station will be established on Adiala Road.

The district administration official also said that the role of police would be ended in price control, anti-encroachment andland revenue matters and the enforcement authority would take action on violations with magisterial powers.

He said that the Punjab government wanted to make the authority functional within a week or two but the district administration informed the government that it would be functional by next month.

Rawalpindi Commissioner Aamir Khattak was not available to comment on the issue despite repeated attempts.

However, a senior divisional official said that the directions of the Punjab government had been conveyed to all six districts of Rawalpindi division to make the authority functional.