Human rights ministry to request Punjab government for retention

“These centres are originally the domain of provincial government. We will again make a try to convince Punjab government for bearing their responsibility. If the request is not accepted, the ministry is also considering the option of making these centres a part of its non-development budget,” said Secretary Ministry of Human Rights Shaigan Shareef Malik while discussing future of Punjab crisis centres with ‘The News.’

He said that funds have been allocated for these centres for the current fiscal year. Out of a nominal budget of Rs126 million allocated for the Federal Ministry of Human Rights for the financial year 2012-2013 in contrast to its huge mandate, Rs96 million is reserved for the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Crisis Centres located in Punjab.

Since the devolution of Federal Ministry of Women Development after 18th Amendment, around 118 staff members of the 12 such centres located in Punjab were unclear about their future. Out of total 26 such centres functional throughout the country, there are 12 such centres operating in Lahore , Multan, Vehari, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali, Khushab, Faisalabad, Sialkot and Rawalpindi.

The Punjab government refused to take the responsibility of these centres taking a stance that they already have a mechanism to address violence victims in the form of Dar-ul-Amman. The Punjab authorities said that they are running almost the same facility in the form of Dar-ul-Amman in 35 out of 36 districts of Punjab and is not in a position to take additional financial burden for the same function. The other three provinces accepted the centres.

On the other hand, the staff of crisis centres took the stance that Dar-ul-Amaans and Crisis Centres have different roles. It said that in Dar-ul-Amaans, only those women are kept, who are sent through the courts and their cases are pending whereas in crisis centres, any woman who becomes victim of violence can go for help. The argued that the crisis centres work round the clock and provide counselling, and legal services at the same time.

To save this facility from closure in Punjab, the federal government kept these centres functioning under Federal Ministry of Human Rights. Meanwhile, the ministry conducted studies and visits of these centres to evaluate their performance.

“All the studies conducted show that these centres are performing well and a major part is self-managed through different mechanisms like NGO management committees etc,” said the Federal Secretary Shaigan Shareef Malik who seemed completely in the favour of retaining these centres. He said that Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Women Crisis Centres in Islamabad has already been shifted to the non-development budget. “We believe that women crisis centres play useful role in providing relief to violence victims and Ministry of Human Rights has no intension of discontinuing this initiative,” assured the federal secretary.

(2012-08-01/thenews)