Basharat urges anti-harassment centres to improve their performance

LAHORE: Punjab Law and Cooperatives Minister Raja Basharat has said Chief Minister Usman Buzdar was not satisfied with the performance of anti-harassment centres set up for women by the police department across Punjab, urging the police and the Public Prosecution Departments to take effective measures to improve conviction rate in crimes against women.

The minister was addressing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Law and Order at the Civil Secretariat under his chairmanship here on Thursday.

"The conviction rate for those involved in crimes against humanity is very low," the minister regretted. He urged the police department to regularly inform the media about the action taken against the accused of harassment of women. Raja Basharat said even if there is a false FIR against the accused of violence against women, it should be registered but according to the law, action should be taken against those who registered false cases under section 182. He directed the law enforcing agencies to make strict security arrangements on the occasion of national T20 cricket matches and also to provide foolproof security on Chehlum like Ashura of Muharram. "No concessions should be made to the elements spreading sectarian hater on social media," he reiterated. During the meeting, IG and Secretary Prosecution gave a briefing on the steps taken so far to curb violence and harassment against women. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee also reviewed the latest law and order situation in the province and gave necessary instructions in the light of information received from the intelligence agencies.

Minister Hashim Dogar, Inspector General Police Punjab, Additional Chief Secretary Home, Secretary Law, Additional IGs CTD and Special Branch, CCPO, Commissioner and other law enforcement officers concerned were present on the occasion while Divisional Commissioners and RPOs gave video link briefings.

Primary teachers’ training programme: Punjab Minister for Literacy and Non-Formal Basic Education (L&NFBE) Raja Rashid Hafeez visited the training of lead trainers conducted by JICA and L&NFBE Department Punjab and witnessed the ongoing activities and practices of the trainees.

The minister said L&NFBE Department had initiated the five days training of master trainers on Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) for primary in five districts of Punjab with the technical assistance of JICA. Additional Secretary of NFBE, Director Training Punjab, Chief Advisor JICA and provincial coordinator JICA-AQAL Project were also present on the occasion.

Raja Rashid Hafeez further said that under this training, these trainees would be facilitated to learn new techniques and methods which would be helpful for primary teachers to improve their teaching skills. Under the Programme, L&NFBE in collaboration with JICA has set up ALP Non-Formal schools in five districts of South Punjab which aim to provide second chance to those children who are not able to go to formal school or who are dropped out from formal system.