Greater awareness required about DLECs, Senate told

The Senate was informed on Tuesday that only 7 percent funds allocated for District Legal Empowerment Committees (DLECs) were availed by women, which makes 24 percent overall utilisation of Rs 21.2 million allocated since 2013. The DLECs are panels formed to administer and manage funds for providing legal aid to deserving litigants.
Responding to a question during the question-hour in Senate, Minister for Law and Justice, Zahid Hamid told that under DLECs, a total of 591 cases were handled, out of them 551 were relating to males and only 40 were concerning females. He explained that of 40 women cases, 19 were in Punjab, 18 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2 in Sindh and 1 in Balochistan under this programme, adding out of all these cases, 569 were criminal while only 2 were related to family matters.
He said that utilisation of these funds for females had been just 7 percent. He called for more awareness and sensitisation of females about this fund and its utility, adding the high courts, session judges and NGOs could play a critical role in this connection. He said more funds could be provided any time.
Zahid said that Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan had constituted DLECs across Pakistan and Rs 0.2 million were released to each district but bulk of the funds remained unutilised, and that's very regrettable. He called for better fund management and lamented that the DLECs also could not hold monthly meetings regularly to push for better, effective and more utilisation of funds.
Senator Azam Swati of PTI and Ghous Muhammad Niazi of PML-N called for more utilisation of funds by females. Federal Minister for Petroleum, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said that the government received 29 percent taxes on petrol and 39 percent on diesel and this was besides 4.77 percent petrol pump margin and 3.64 percent OMCs margin on petrol and 3.55 percent and 3.20 percent respectively on diesel.
Dr Jehanzeb Jamaldeni of BNP-Mengal had to face disappointment again as Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Shahid Khaqan Abbasi could not offer a reply to his question. Jamaldeni had asked why a large area in Washuk district of Balochistan is cordoned of and that there are reports of discovery of gas in area. He complained despite having asked this question repeatedly, no minister had answered to it in the House. "Those who are working in a restricted area, are aliens? What is going on there?" he asked.
Abbasi said that risked technically recoverable shale gas resources in the Lower and Middle Indus basins were 95 trillion cubic feet and estimated cost of exploring and utilising the same as a source of energy would be worked out based on the results of pilot projects being planned. He added unfortunately, at present, the shale gas was not commercially viable though due to its special conditions, it was a success story in the United States.
State Minister for Religious Affairs and Inter-Faith Harmony, Pir Muhammad Aminul Hasnat assured the House that the government is ready to adopt any other term for 'minorities'. Hari Ram of PPP had objected to use of term minorities and insisted on being called non-Muslim Pakistanis.