The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights has unanimously approved a development budget of Rs. 495 million for the next fiscal year.
A meeting in this regard was held in the Parliament House on Friday with Senator Walid Iqbal in the chair and the attendees were briefed about the Ministry of Human Rights’ development budget for the next fiscal year (2022-23).
The ministry officials informed the committee that Rs. 150 million was sought for the ongoing schemes and projects while Rs. 345 million is for the new projects. Additionally, the National Program for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment will be initiated to address Pakistan’s gender disparity and improve its Gender Development Index (GDI) ratio.
The committee unanimously approved the developmental budget for the next year and commended the projects and efforts being undertaken for the improvement of Pakistan’s human rights index.
The meeting’s agenda also entailed the Consideration of the Point of Public Importance regarding the mob lynching incident in Mian Channu, as raised by Senator Sherry Rehman.
The attendees called for a strong condemnation of the incident that was considered to have been committed as per the society in question’s disposition toward the matter. It was revealed that an increase in extremism is most visible among the ages 25 to 30, as noted in the mentioned case, and 19 to 30 as seen in the Sialkot lynching case. Most of the people involved are believed to have been influenced by certain social media forums and there was no distinction between the literate and illiterate.
Consequently, South Punjab was termed the ‘eye of the storm’ in this regard.
The committee also stressed the need for stakeholder participation to develop a strategy to address this issue. It agreed that religious forums must spread the true spirit of Islam and its stance on tolerance.
Senator Iqbal lauded the efforts of law enforcement agencies and said that the committee backs the machinery completely. He added that a letter must be sent to the President, Prime Minister, and the Speaker of the National Assembly to them to heed the matter so that initiatives may be taken to address it.
The meeting was attended by, Senator Falak Naz, Senator Muhammad Tahir Bizenjo, the Additional IG Operations Punjab, the DPO of Mian Channu, and senior officers of the Ministry of Human Rights and its attached departments and agencies.
