SOPs being prepared for functioning of ZARRA, court told

KARACHI: The Ministry of Human Rights is preparing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for smooth functioning of Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act (ZARRA), deputy secretary of Ministry of HR has told the Sindh High Court (SHC). Filing comments on a petition seeking direction to the federal government to establish Zainab Alert, response and recovery agency and implementation of the law to deal with child rape and kidnapping cases, the MoHR official submitted that as per the statutory requirement, rules can only be framed once ZARRA is established and notified.

He submitted that the post of the DG ZARRA has been advertised and candidates have been shortlisted. He submitted that a summary has been prepared and shall be moved to the prime minister as soon the federal cabinet approves and notifies the establishment of ZARRA. He mentioned that service rules for the posts of ZARRA have been framed and notified.

The MoHR official said that PC-I has been prepared for upgradation of existing helpline (1099) project of Human Rights Ministry which will work under the DG ZARRA. He further mentioned that Zainab Alert app has been linked with Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit while the Zainab Alert performance dashboard was also functional. He said that so far 240 cases have been registered on the Zainab App and 165 cases have been resolved.

The official said the dashboard was accessible by the DPOs, RPOs and IG across the country and there were 170 dashboards being monitored across the country including three in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, eight in Balochistan, five in Islamabad, 59 in KP, 63 in Punjab and 32 in Sindh. He submitted that overall mechanism was being monitored by the PMDU and MoHR.

The official said the MoHR was committed towards protecting the rights of the citizens and is continuously working towards achieving that goal through several programmes and initiatives. SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar directed the federal law officer to provide the copy of comments to petitioner’s counsel who wanted some time to go through the same.

The section officer of Inter-Provincial Coordination Division also sought time to file comments. The court directed the concerned respondent to file comments by April 14.

Petitioner Naeem Sadiq submitted that federal government has failed to implement the Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Act and set up agency to deal with child kidnapping and sexual assault cases.

The petitioner’s counsel Salahuddin Ahmed submitted that ZARRA has been promulgated in 2020 and despite lapse of a year no agency has been set up or director general has been appointed to work under the law. The court was requested to direct the federal government to notify and establish Zainab Alert, Response and Recovery Agency under the relevant law and make the law operational in its true letter and spirit.