Sindh govt told to identify vulnerable schools in city

Karachi
The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the provincial government to identify schools at risk of terror attacks and apprise the court of measures adopted for their security.
The education secretary and other concerned authorities were also ordered to submit a report within four weeks whether students were being burdened with additional fee for the security being provided.
The directions came on a petition filed by Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) and others seeking effective security and protection of educational institutions in the province.
The petitioners submitted that after the December 16, 2014 Peshawar attack which resulted in the deaths of over 130 students and staffers, all educational institutions across the country were under threat.
They maintained that as per intelligence reports published in the media, community-run welfare schools in Karachi were at a high risk of an attack while some private institutions and schools also complained of receiving threats.
Referring to measures taken by other provinces, the petitioners stated that Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad Capital Territory had formulated standard operating procedures (SOPs) and directed school administrations to raise boundary walls and put in razor wires atop them, installation of CCTV cameras etc.
However, they added that nothing had been done to promulgate such SOPs in Sindh, where authorities had placed the responsibility of protection on either the educational institutions’ themselves or the parents.
The court on a previous hearing had directed chief secretary, home and education secretaries to submit a detailed report regarding the measures taken - including but not limited to the SOPs proposed by them - besides the details of security deployment at such institutions.
The counsel of the petitioner Faisal Siddiqui submitted that despite various court orders directing the government to arrange necessary security measures none were complied with.
Provincial law officer Mukesh Kumar requested to be granted some time to respond as well as to place on record the measures taken by the provincial government.
The petitioners also submitted that the provincial government spent Rs220 million monthly for the security of 600 VIPs, including ministers and foreign diplomats but no concrete efforts were being made for provision of security to schools and colleges in the province.
They submitted that over 1,675 police personnel were deployed in VIP zones whereas only one security personnel was available for 6,000 citizens in a city whose estimated population was beyond 18 million.
The court was prayed to direct the government to provide foolproof security to educational institutions and declare VIP security to politicians, ministers without reasonable classification as discriminatory and unlawful.
SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah directed to hold a survey of all schools, identifying those most vulnerable; ensuring deployment of police as well as other measures taken by the provincial government.