The National Assembly Standing Committee for Human Rights on Wednesday expressed its dissatisfaction over the restructuring of the ministry, and asked the secretary to come fully prepared at the next meeting. During the meeting under Acting Chairwoman Yasin Rehman, the committee reviewed the cases of those killed and injured during the Hazara province movement. The secretary of the Ministry for Human Rights briefed the meeting that the ministry “takes notice of human rights violations but it has no power to take action”. He supported the idea of setting up branches of Human Rights Ministry at the district level. The secretary further said that the Ministry of Human Rights had the lowest budget. Kashmala Tariq, a committee member, pointed out that numerous NGOs were operating in the country and no one knew about their objectives. She asked the ministry to devise a proper mechanism to ensure a keen watch on the activities of the NGOs. The committee also sought a briefing from the Economic Affairs Division about funds and monitoring of the NGOs.
