The federal government has urged the provincial government to help raise the Diyat, Arsh and Daman Fund from the existing Rs 35 million to Rs 65 million to help convicts who have undergone large imprisonment spans but have failed to pay the amount of Diyat, Arsh and Daman.
Sources in the Human Rights Ministry said Rs 65 million was needed to release the current number of prisoners, adding that the ministry had suggested that provincial governments could help raise the existing amount of this fund. According to the new modalities for taking up cases of Diyat Arsh and Daman, it was suggested that cases in which the convict had already undergone a large span of imprisonment should be given priority.
Sources said the Administrative Committee of the Diyat, Arsh and Daman Fund had also agreed to delegate powers to provincial sub-committees, which would be chaired by home secretaries and would comprise a member of the federal government for disposal of funds under section 5 of Diyat, Arsh and Damn Fund Rules 2007. The sub-committee would process applications for Diyat, Arsh and Daman at provincial level and would forward them to the federal government.
The government has also decided to send a copy of the new modalities to provincial sub-committees and one such copy would be placed in prisons to create awareness of this fund among the prisoners. A large number of prisoners are languishing in the country’s jails as they don’t have money to pay as Diyat.
