PHC orders child protection houses to ensure facilities or face action

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) bench on Thursday set a two weeks deadline for the government-run Child Protection Houses to provide all facilities to the children or else face action.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan and Justice Ikramullah Khan directed the heads of the Child Protection and Welfare Houses to improve the living conditions of the children and provide all facilities to them as they were living in miserable conditions and funds were spent on other activities.

The bench was hearing writ petitions separately filed by two lawyers Muhammad Khurshid Khan and Saifullah Mohib against child beggary, labour and sexual exploitation.

They had requested the court to issue directives for the handover of the children at risk to the child protection and welfare institutes and improve conditions of the Child Protection and Welfare Houses in the province.

The bench also expressed reservations over the report of the in-charge Welfare House, in which he claimed that there were nine children in the house. He said that Rs1.4 million was the annual grant of the house, of which Rs1,40,000 had been spent.

Muhammad Khurshid Khan and Asad Jan submitted report about conditions of the Protection and Welfare Houses after visiting the facility on the court order. They submitted that the Welfare and Protection Houses lacked facilities.

They said children are living there in miserable conditions.

He requested the court to direct the Child Protection and Welfare Commission (CPWC) through its chief protection officer to create a complaint cell and a committee to rescue the child at risk and begin an awareness programme through the media in this respect.

Muhammad Khursheed Khan Advocate said in his petition that according to a survey conducted by the United Nations in 2012, 12.5 million children in Pakistan were subjected to bonded labour.

He said the number of such children had increased to 25 million now. The petitioner said most of these children were under-age and were working in different houses, hotels, shops, workshops and factories.

The petitioner said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had formed a Child Protection Commission in 2010, but its performance was yet to be seen.

He prayed the court to direct the provincial government to conduct a survey of such cases, make strict laws and ensure their implementation.

The respondents in the petition are KP government through the chief secretary; KP IGP; Child Protection and Welfare Commission; Ministry of Women Empowerment and Social Welfare, and Ministry of Law.

Lawyer Saifullah in his petition said previously, the West Pakistan Vagrancy Ordinance 1958 and Orphanage (Supervision and Control) Act, 1966, were passed for the vagrants and child at risk, but these laws were repealed by the provincial assembly through the KP Child Protection and Welfare Commission (CPWC) Act, 2010, and Child Protection Institutes had been set up by the provincial government. He said until now, no concrete step had been taken for implementation of the said law.

The lawyer said the commission provided under Section 3 of the said act was non-functional and that no progress had been shown by Child Protection Institutes formed under the law.