One department should be responsible for initiating the process of legislation on children; currently the Law and Home departments are taking the lead but it would be preferable if the Social Welfare Department becomes the focal point, suggested senior leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Taj Haider.
He was addressing at a gathering, organised by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC), to review the progress made in Sindh after the abolition of Concurrent List, as the cut off date is approaching for either adopting or rejecting the legislative bills referred to provinces by the National Assembly. The event was addressed by Haider, Sharmila Farooqi, former adviser to chief minister on information Justice (retd) Zafar Ahmed Sherwani, Labour Assistant Director Zulfiqar Ahmed, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Joint Director Zulfiqar Shah and SPARC National Manager Iqbal Ahmed Detho.
While dilating upon the performance of provinces in terms of legislation after 18th amendment, Haider – also the PPP-Sindh general secretary – said that although the provinces were slow to legislate on children, the efficiency can be improved by considering a few suggestions. “There should be a committee comprising committed and professional members that should review all bills pending in the assembly and come up with their recommendations in the shortest possible time span,” suggested Haider.
He also recommended putting more resources in the already existing mechanisms such as Provincial Commission on Child Welfare and Development, which will also cost less and consume lesser time to come up with solutions to the problems of children. The PPP-Sindh general secretary agreed upon amending laws regarding the age of children with reference to Article 25-A of the constitution. “Instead of 14 years, the age of a child should be 16 years as now defined in Article 25-A,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, PPP-Sindh Ladies Wing Information Secretary Sharmila Faruqi stressed on the need to expedite legislation on child-related laws as they were long overdue.
“The legislatures are apt to issue ordinances and make amendments in existing laws within a short span of time where benefits pertain to the bureaucracy, it is disappointing to note that the legislation pertaining to welfare of children is unduly delayed,” she said. Encouraging the civil society to play due role in reminding the responsibilities to policymakers, Faruqi asked the media to throw more weight regarding raising awareness on social issues. “The media is engaged in giving more importance to political issues rather than social problems. Apart from breaking the news, media should constantly follow it up to the stage of resolution of the problem,” she added.
Talking on the status of children coming in conflict or contact with law in the post 18th amendment scenario Justice (retd) Sherwani stressed on the need of strengthening Probation and Parole Department to make criminal justice system more responsive and rehabilitative for juvenile offenders. He suggested having a committee of committed professional to bring about breakthroughs in bills pending in the provincial legislatures and involvement of the judiciary while putting forward any bill in the assembly. However, he noted, when such legislations fail to be implemented, the failure goes to the judiciary, which is in real sense not responsible of its failure.
SPARC National Manager Iqbal Ahmed Detho stressed on expediting the legislation in line with international commitments of the government and suggested establishment of maximum number of industrial schools and remand homes in more districts of Sindh other than Karachi for juvenile offenders. Lauding the efforts of civil society organisations for providing services of alternative care to children, he said these were the prime responsibilities of the state but civil society is taking the lead. Ahmed and Shah also dilated upon the issues of child labour and bonded labour. They said these issues are neglected in terms of legislation and should be given top priority when the provinces have the power to legislate on them.
A vast number of civil society representatives and government officials concerned also participated in the consultation including representatives from departments of Education, Labour, Social Welfare, Prosecution, Police, Information; Sindh Judicial Academy; Sindh Education Foundation; Provincial Commission on Child Welfare and Development, Sindh Coal Authority, TREE, Azad Foundation, The Initiator, British Council, Aas Trust, HRCP, PILER, Muslim Aid Pakistan, Aahung, Terre des Hommes, Action Aid, Oxfam Novib, Aurat Foundation, Konpal, LHRLA among journalists, advocates and students.
