‘Sindh has granted Rs400m to prevent HR violations’

Sindh Human Rights Commission (SHRC) Chairman Iqbal Detho has said that the provincial government has given a grant of Rs400 million to the home department, courts and SHRC to prevent HR violations in the province.

Speaking at a meeting at Shahbaz Building in Hyderabad on Friday he told that the funds from the approved grants are being utilised to provide legal aid facilities and to protect the vulnerable children involved in child labour, women and minority communities.

Detho informed that the capacity of prisons in Sindh is being enhanced as currently around 21,000 inmates are languishing in jails against a capacity of 20,000.

He informed the meeting that after the Jaranwala incident, the provincial government has established a task force at provincial level besides the districts-based committees to further enhance religious harmony in the province.

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The SHRC chairman insisted on the need of data sharing of all the cases reported at the district levels. He underscored the need of publishing a comprehensive booklet containing the information and contact details of all committees existing in Hyderabad division.

Commissioner Hyder Shah emphasised the need for a comprehensive handbook on various committees, including District Peace and Justice, Inter Religion Harmony, Child Labor Task Force, Safe House, Dar-ul-Aman, and Women Development.

He proposed the publication and distribution of this handbook to address issues effectively.

Speaking at the meeting, the DIG Hyderabad Range Tariq Razzak Dharejo said that the existing laws and rules are yet to enforced and implemented.

He apprised that they have set up Minority Facilitation Desks in all the nine districts of Hyderabad Range to handle the minorities' issues. He underlined the necessity to further mobilise the stakeholders working to prevent the violation of rights.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11^th, 2023.