CM orders free legal aid to juvenile prisoners

Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (retd) Maqbool Baqar has ordered inquiries against the Sindh Revenue Board (SRB) and Labour Department for their failure to act against the non-compliance of Sindh Workers Welfare Fund and Sindh Workers Participation Fund and the failure [of DG Labour] to register industrial units respectively.

The CM took notice of the media reports that 385 underage offenders were languishing at various prisons of the province for want of legal representation.

These including 168 juvenile offenders aged 17, 106 juveniles aged 16, 100 youth aged 18, eight 15-year-olds, two 14-year-olds and a 13-year-old in prisons of Karachi, Hyderabad and Sukkur. He directed the law department to provide them free legal aid and send report to him on daily basis.

"Had both the organisations- the SRB and the DG Labour, taken timely action, the recovery of Rs16.4 billion for workers fund would have been ensured."

This he said while presiding over a joint meeting of SRB, SESSI and Workers Welfare Board. The meeting was attended by Minister Law Omar Soomro, Advocate General Hassan Akbar, PSCM Hassan Naqvi, Secretary Labour Shariq Ahmad, Chairman SRB Wasif Memon, Secretary Law Ali Ahmad Baloch, Commissioner SESSI Saleem Khuhro, Secretary Workers Welfare Board and others.

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The SRB chairman informed the CM that the missing amount of the fund payers- Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) and Workers Participation Fund (WPF)- have been updated in the ledger of the Nazir of the Sindh High Court and now the Nazir ledger reflects that there were 39 cases who have deposited Rs19.29 billion and now the total amount has come to Rs26.03 billion.

The CM was told that the 78 non-compliant litigant fund payers have been issued 19 show-cause notices by raising demand of Rs35.97 billion in which the Sindh component would come to Rs7 billion.

The CM was told that there were 54 industrial units that owed Rs3.106 billion. At this, the CM questioned that no action had been taken against them. The SRB team said that they have now issued them show-cause notices. The CM expressing his displeasure and ordered a high-level inquiry against SRB to unearth the motives behind the lethargy.

The CM was told that in the Labour Square, Gulshan-e-Maymar, there were 1,000 flats. The interim chief minister had directed the Workers Welfare Board to renovate them and allot those flats that were vacant.

In compliance with the interim CM's orders out of 32 blocks comprising 1,000 flats, 15 blocks of 480 flats have been rehabilitated and are ready to occupy. The remaining 17 blocks of 520 flats would be rehabilitated by November 2023.

The CM was told that 128 Flats in Hyderabad and 100 houses at Shaheed Benazirabad were under illegal occupation, in this regard the interim CM had issued necessary instructions for the removal of the encroachment. The district administration and the police have made necessary arrangements to remove encroachments.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 24^th, 2023.