NA Standing Committee on Human Rights meets 

Islamabad, February 27, 2023 (PPI-OT):20th meeting of the Standing Committee on Human Rights was held today under the Chairpersonship of Dr. Mahreen Razzaq Bhutto, MNA, in the Committee Room No. 7 (fourth floor) Parliament House. The meeting commenced with recitation from the Holy Quran. The Hon. Chairperson welcomed the all participants and afterwards decided to proceed as per agenda items.

The matter, regarding arrest of husband of Ms. Afshan Latif, Supdt. Kashana Lahore (Moved by Ms. Shahida Rehmani, MNA), was deferred to the next meeting. The Committee deferred the Bill titled “The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) (Amendment) Bill, 2022 (moved by Mr. Qadir Khan Mandokhail, MNA)”. The Zainab Alert Response and Recovery (Amendment) Bill, 2021 (moved by Moulana Abdul Akber Chitrali, MNA) was deferred by the Committee till its next meeting.

In the meeting, the Committee discussed the report of the Ministry of Human Rights upon the matter of the physical torture of a child in the Special Education Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, H-9, Islamabad, and recommended a more detailed report upon the proceedings of the case, as well as upon the monitoring of such institutions.

The Committee expressed its displeasure upon the report presented by the Ministry of Human Rights on the matter. The Ministry apprised the Committee upon the measures undertaken upon the case till date, including the formation of a Fact-Finding Committee, filing of FIR and charging the perpetrator under section 328 of Pakistan Penal Code.

The Committee questioned whether there was a monitoring mechanism in place at the institution, to which, the Ministry responded that monitoring was being conducted by a BPS-19 officer. The Committee further questioned whether any more cases of the similar nature had emerged at the same institute and demanded a more focused and proactive approach towards monitoring the treatment of children at such centers for prevention of such crimes.

The Committee also recommended the determination of the exact age of the students boarding and/or studying at the Special Education Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, H-9, Islamabad, and at other such institutes, and establishing the mandate of NCHR (National Commission for Human Rights) or NCRC (National Commission for the Rights of Child).

The Committee also reviewed the projects for Public Sector Development Programmes (PSDP) for the Ministry of Human Rights, for the financial year 2023-2024.

The Director General Development Ministry of Human Rights, briefed the Committee regarding the budgetary proposals relating to the PSDP 2023-24. The Committee was informed that the PSDP included 15 projects with 10 on-going and 05 new projects. Total funds demanded for the PSDP amount to Rs. 749.291 million out of which Rs. 222.281 million were for completing on-going projects while Rs. 527.010 million were demanded for new projects.

The members of the Committee who were present in the meeting at that time unanimously passed the PSDP 2023-24, with the reservations for the provision of the PC1 budget details as well as province-wise details to be presented in the future.

Moreover, the Committee also showed its reservation over non-inclusion of the recommendations made by the Committee on PSDPs, during last four years. The Committee also recommended inclusion of projects related to NCRC in PSDP in the future. Honourable Members Ms. Shaza Fatima Khwaja, Ms. Maiza Hameed, Mr. Qadir Khan Mandokhail, Ms. Shamsun Nisa, Ms. Kishwer Zehra, Ms. Shahnaz Naseer Baloch, MNAs, attended the meeting.

For more information, contact:
Secretary,
National Assembly of Pakistan
Automation Centre, National Assembly Secretariat,
Parliament House, Islamabad, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51-9221082-83
Fax: +92-51-9221106
Email: assembly@na.gov.pk
Website: www.na.gov.pk