Human rights policy implemented in Punjab, says minister

LAHORE: Provincial Minister Ejaz Alam Augustine said that human rights policy has been implemented in Punjab for the first time in the history while single national curriculum is also being ensured for the first time in Punjab; he said this while addressing a provincial advocacy forum on the topic of improved access to fair, legitimate and effective justice in Pakistan.

The forum was organised by SPO, in collaboration with Oxfam and with the support of Punjab HR&MA Department at a private hotel on Monday. In his address, the minister said that the department of human rights has given many suggestions to the concerned departments on prison reforms while submitting reports to the Supreme Court after every three months regarding condition of prisons.

Ejaz Alam while appreciating the efforts of SPO and Oxfam said that the results of holding such sessions would definitely be very encouraging. The Provincial Minister HR&MA Ijaz Alam Augustine and Punjab govt spokesperson Musarrat Jamshed Cheema were the guests of honour. Ex-additional Chief Secretary Iftikhar Ahmed, DG Women Authority Punjab Irshad Waheed, representatives of civil society, academia, police, lawyers and representatives of other concerned departments were also present in the forum. SPO Regional Head Shah Nawaz Khan and Team lead Oxfam Asma Kiran briefed all the participants about the project Accessing Root Causes (ARC). They said SPO with support of Oxfam intervened at the grassroots level to bridge communication gap between communities and justice providers. The participants also presented various proposals to strengthen the weaker sections of the society.

LCWU: A delegation of teachers and students from the Architecture Department of Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) called on Minister for Housing and Urban Development Punjab, Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed here on Monday. On this occasion, vantages were shared on the best level collaboration between the Punjab Housing Department and Architecture Department of LCWU.

The delegation was headed by the Chairperson Architecture Department Dr Yasmeen Maan while Assistant Prof Maliha Khalid, Lecturer Nida Qamber and students were also present on this occasion. Mian Mehmood-ur-Rasheed on this occasion said that the first international architectural webinar on the topic of ‘Architectural Pedagogy’ will be held in collaboration with the Punjab Housing Department and LCWU on June 30 (tomorrow).

The minister said that the Vice-Chancellor Lahore College University Prof Dr Bushra Mirza has taken proper steps for promoting architectural education. All the veterans, teachers and the students associated with this department will get a chance to express their perspectives through this webinar, he said.