=> KARACHI (APP) – Caretaker Sindh Minister for Women
KARACHI (APP) – Caretaker Sindh Minister for Women Development Department, Nadira Panjwani has asked officials to be compassionate in their approach towards cases pertaining to surety and fine amount for convicted women prisoners.
Presiding the llth meeting of Female Prisoners & Committee in her office here Saturday the Women Development Minister hoped that by the end of current financial year all Women Prisoners at jails in Sindh would be turned eligible to the facilities planned to be offered by provincial Women Development Department.
Sindh Women Development Department under a revolving fund of Rs.20 Million is currently engaged in arranging surety or bail amount for the convicted female prisoners who are unable to pay the same and therefore exposed to delayed release.
The Minister expressed her satisfaction that the department since December 2007 has also extended this facility to juvenile prisoners and that this has been done with the consent of competent authority. It was through the efforts of Minister Nadira Panjwani that the surety amount was raised from Rs.50,000 to Rs.100,000.
Nadira Panjwani appreciated the good work being carried out by the committee members and expressed her confidence that applications of women prisoners already placed before the committee would be decided soon.
Earlier, the participants of meeting were informed that the sum of Rs. 839,470 have been paid by Women Development Department as fine amount for the release of 22 female prisoners confined in Karachi Jail, two in Larkana and one in Sukkur respectively.
No juvenile prisoner was noticed to have benefited as the provision has been notified only recently during the tenure of caretaker Chief Minister of Sindh (retd) justice Abdul Qadir Halipoto.
The members of the committee were informed that currently there were 182 prisoners confined in various jail of Sindh including 114 in Karachi, 40 in Hyderabad, seven in Larkana, 21 in Sukkur while there are as many as 93 juvenile prisoners in various Jails of Sindh.
The committee members further informed that there are 10 female foreign prisoners viz four from Cote-D-Ivorie, two from Zambia, and one each from Ukraine, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania respectively and require dues to be paid by June 30.
Juvenile prisoner Zahid s/o Rajab Solangi presently confined in district jail Dadu was also said to be released on payment of fine by June 2008.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Women Development Department, Subhan Memon, I.G. (Prisons) Yameen Khan, CPLC Chief Sharafuddin Memon, Additional Secretry Law and Home Department, Deputy Secretary Finance and by representatives of A.G Sindh, Social Welfare Department and of NG0s besides other officials.
Source: The Nation
Date:2/11/2008
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