Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Tuesday grilled the officials of Ministry of Human Rights over alleged misuse of funds allocated for National Action Plan (NAP) and directed an audit in this regard. The meeting was held with Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar in the chair here at the Parliament House.
The officials of the ministry contended that news reports about the misuse of funds and alleged high salaries to consultants are not based on facts and this has been refuted by the ministry. The ministry also remarked that the money allocated by the government for the NAP wasn't misused in any way and the ministry always conducts third-party audit of its funds.
The members of the committee observed that in case of fake news, the ministry should have issued rebuttal of it. At the same time, the committee directed the Auditor General of Pakistan to include the ministry in this year's audit programme and keep the committee posted on the progress.
The committee also discussed the matter of ongoing protests of the employees of the State Life Insurance Company Limited (SLIC). The committee was told that there are a total of 155,000 sales representatives and they haven't been terminated and that 21,700 sales officers were offered promotion but only 8,000 of them got themselves registered for promotion. It was told that only the post of sales officer has been removed while no individual has been terminated. The committee directed the SLIC management to resolve the matter amicably.
The committee discussed issue of blocking of computerised national identity cards (CNICs) of Malik Attaullah Bajaur and his family. The matter had been raised by Senator Usman Khan Kakar during proceedings of the Senate through a point of public importance on April 30, 2019.
Attaullah and his son informed the committee that their family offered sacrifices in war against terror but unfortunately they are being politically victimised and their CNICs have been blocked. He also produced the appreciation certificates issued by the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in the name of Attaullah for showing patriotism. The committee chairman and members of the committee were taken by surprise.
Attaullah informed that the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) blocked their CNICs on the recommendations of district level committee (DLC) which is headed by a deputy commissioner. The committee summoned the DLC and other officials concerned to brief it to sort out the matter amicably. The committee, however, expressed its displeasure over the maltreatment meted out to the noble family.
The office-bearers of Utility Stores Corporation Employees Union informed the committee about the recent arrests of the representatives of the union and registration of first information reports (FIRs). The committee directed the USC management to adopt a soft approach instead of harassing its workforce. It further directed that both the management and the union should resolve issues through dialogue and negotiations.
The chairman of the committee observed that the poor are suffering as the stores are short of items. The USC managing director and representatives of the union explained their position before the committee.
The committee also took notice of the registration of FIRs under Anti-terrorism Act (ATA) against the workers of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) for holding public gatherings in Sindh and Balochistan. It directed the authorities concerned to withdraw the FIRs registered under ATA.
The meeting was also attended by Senators Dr Mehr Taj Roughani, Ayesha Raza Farooq, Usman Khan Kakar, Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldini and Sana Jamali, Joint Secretary Human Rights and Additional Auditor General Zia-ur-Rehman.
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