LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat has said that the Punjab government was taking concrete steps for the welfare of women including legislation to facilitate women in obtaining inheritance certificate.
He expressed these views while addressing a seminar here on Tuesday. He said that the tenure of the first female ombudsman of Punjab was not fixed earlier which had been fixed at four years now. “The government was setting up protection centres for women across the province whereas earlier it was functioning only in Multan,” he added.
He further said the federal as well as provincial law ministers conduct regular meetings to review the progress on implementation of women inheritance law and status of complaints received by the women ombudsperson. “Pakistan has effective and strict laws but there was a need to implement them properly for which awareness seminars and workshops could play a pivotal role,” he added.
Referring to the Sialkot tragedy, he said that for the growing trend of violence and extremism in Pakistan, it was necessary to promote attitudes based on tolerance and forbearance. “What happened in Sialkot was against the norms and teachings of Islam. The government is determined and is taking steps to ensure that those responsible of the incident are punished severely and that such incidents do not happen again,” he added.
Meanwhile, US Consul General in Lahore William Macnoele called on the Minister in Punjab Assembly during which legislation process and the law and order situation in Punjab were discussed.
Basharat told the US Consul that the government had so far enacted record legislation while law and order situation in the province was satisfactory. He further said that those responsible for the Sialkot tragedy would be ensured to get maximum punishment for which the police department and public prosecution department were directed to submit flawless charge sheet within 30 days. “Such steps were being taken so that no one would dare to commit such mischief in future,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021