Daily Times

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday constituted a committee to collect data of juvenile, women, elderly and disabled prisoners to provide them best possible facilities.

The committee comprising the interior secretary, provincial home secretaries and inspectors general of jails, and other stakeholders, would conduct a survey of all the jails for the purpose, Special Assistant to Prime Minster on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said. She was addressing a press conference to brief the media persons on the decisions made by the federal cabinet in its meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Firdous said the cabinet handed over the government’s jail reforms agenda to the committee and directed it to formulate proposals in that regard at the earliest. The body would coordinate with the relevant provincial authorities to improve the condition of jails, she added. She said the prime minister also issued directives for providing free legal aid to the deserving prisoners. The government would pay the fines of those prisoners who were languishing in jails for non-payment of the same, she added. The cabinet also decided to coordinate with the provinces on separating juvenile prisoners from other jail inmates.

Firdous said the prime minister directed the ministries to come up with out-of-the-box solutions to facilitate common man when they visited their ministries and attached departments for the purpose. She said the cabinet members were also asked to introduce result-oriented schemes in their ministries and evolve a mechanism to ensure smooth communication with public. The federal cabinet gave a go ahead for setting up a National Safety Council to ensure public safety on the roads. The National Road Safety Steering Committee and its secretariat would also be set up soon to help control road accidents, she added.

She said the prime minister also issued directives for issuing Sehat Insaf Cards to the disabled persons. He also tasked the Capital Development Authority and Rawalpindi Development Authority to issue no objection certificates to those builders only who were ensuring disabled-friendly environment in their buildings, she said.

The special assistant said the cabinet appreciated the efforts of the chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) for speedy disposal of cases and setting up of model courts for the purpose. She said the cabinet also lauded the CJP for disposing of all criminal appeals. She said the cabinet was informed that out of 900,000 complaints registered with the Prime Minister Performance Delivery Unit, some 750,000 had been addressed. Most of the unaddressed complaints were related to Sindh, as the provincial government was not cooperating in that regard, she added. She said the prime minister also called for completion of the ongoing poverty survey this year.

Firdous said the cabinet also gave approval for setting up the National Commission for Children. She said the cabinet approved separation of the departments of services and regulation in the Civil Aviation Authority to improve facilities at airports. She said the cabinet took notice of maltreatment of an employee of Sukkur Electric Power Company in Dadu and summoned the Sindh Police inspector general to brief it on the matter. The cabinet also expressed concern over the loss of lives and property in recent rains in Karachi and Hyderabad, and criticised the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) provincial government for bad governance, which was exposed by the rains, she siad. She said the cabinet had decided to take immediate relief measures for the people affected by heavy rains in Karachi and Hyderabad.

Firdous said the commission constituted to review the master plan of the federal capital also gave a briefing to the cabinet. All the departments concerned were directed to take steps for making Islamabad clean and green, she said. She said the cabinet also expressed commitment to continue efforts for widening the tax net and appreciated the measures taken by the Federal Board of Revenue in that regard.