The Ministry of Interior on Thursday asked chief secretaries of all the provinces, the Azad Jammu and Kashimr (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) to make appropriate arrangements for repatriation of stranded tableeghis and zaireen to their home towns before first Ramazan.

According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior, following the advise of Functional Committee for the Affectees of Coronavirus, chief secretaries, chief commissioner of all provinces, Islamabad, AJK and GB have been asked to facilitated repatriation of tableeghis and zaireen in various parts of the country.

Strict action would be taken against those who failed to comply with the directions, it says.

It says that the third meeting of Functional Committee for the Affectees of Coronavirus was chaired by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on April 22nd.

The issue of repatriation of stranded tableeghis and zaireen and the ordeals faced by them were discussed in detail during the meeting.

Minister of State for States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) Shehryar Afridi briefed the house about the steps taken by Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and provincial home departments AJK, GB and ICT with respect to repatriation of stranded tableeghis and zaireens to their home towns and countries.

He also mentioned that although there was overall satisfaction in the whole exercise, there was a few behavioural and other complaints against certain deputy commissioners and other officers, which must be checked and ratified forthwith.

It says that after detailed meeting, Qaiser advised Ministry of Interior to immediately convey to all the chief secretaries and chief commissioner ICT to ensure immediate repatriation of all the stranded tableeghis and zaireen in accordance with the prevailing SOPs notified by the health authorities and the district administration.