Islamabad : The Senate's Functional Committee on Human Rights on Wednesday took notice of non-utilisation of funds by the Ministry of Human Rights.
The committee, which met here with Senator Quratulain Marri in the chair, discussed Arsh and Daman funds maintained by the human rights ministry, a Senate press release said.
When informed that Rs45 million remained dormant, the committee showed concern over the ministry's claims that it did not come across ample number of cases for which funds might be disbursed.
The committee also noted that less meetings were being held by the ministry despite rules requiring the same to convene on a quarterly basis.
It recommended that the ministry must organise jail visits and must coordinate with the jail superintendents to obtain lists of prisoners in the country so that they could be helped accordingly.
Reviewing details of the Human Rights Relief and Revolving Fund, the committee stressed the need to revisit rules so that its allocation might be enhanced. It also recommended that the ministry must coordinate with the local non-governmental organizations to ensure victims benefit from the funding.
While being briefed about the services provided by the ministry, the committee was informed that a helpline for advice and referral within four years of launch had taken a total of 544,336 calls out of which 37,536 were provided legal advice and 24,314 were referred to relevant departments.
It was also told that over 200 lawyers were registered to the service who were associated with the ministry and attached departments.
The committee emphasized over the need for follow-up and feedback.
It also stressed the need for assisting foreign prisoners who despite serving their terms were languishing in jails due to lack of documentation to go back.
Knowledge sharing through conferences conducted on a national level was emphasized.
Discussing women and child protection centres established by the HR ministry, the committee emphasized to introduce a draft bill to protect women protection officers, who, due to the nature of their work, were at grave risk.
The meeting was attended by senators Kesho Bai, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Sana Jamali, Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar, Kamran Michael, Muhammad Tahir Bizenjo and Prof Mehr Taj Roghani, and senior officers of the Ministry of Human Rights.
