ISLAMABAD: The Federal Ombudsman, Syed Tahir Shahbaz, has asked the National Child Commissioner (NCC), Ejaz Ahmed Qureshi, to prepare a report on cyber crimes against children and suggest plan of action by taking on board FIA, ministry of IT and other stakeholders. He was chairing a meeting to review progress on special initiatives here on Tuesday.

Senior Adviser on Law Hafiz Ahsaan Ahmed Khokhar briefed the federal ombudsman on progress in prison reforms initiatives. He said that 6 quarterly progress reports have been submitted in the Supreme Court and seventh report is in progress. He said that Sindh has repealed the outdated prison laws and improved their parole system to control overcrowding in jails whereas the other three provinces' work is in process.

The ombudsman asked to finalize the automation system of all jails with all criminal justice departments at the earliest and show more progress on missing facilities in jails e.g. proper sitting arrangements for visitors, provision of clean drinking water and sufficient number of toilets. He said that filling of vacant posts of doctors and paramedical staff in jails be ensured at the earliest. He also directed to speed up progress on construction of jail in Islamabad and get its monthly progress report from the ministry of interior.

The ombudsman directed to finalize the 7th quarterly implementation report by 15th August. He directed to appoint special commissioners for pension and housing sector to remove obstacles in these areas. He said that now the density of corona pandemic has come down, therefore, directed to reactivate the Outreach Complaint Resolution (OCR) Programme to provide justice at the doorstep of complainants. He was informed that more than 60,000 complaints have been disposed of in six months.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020