Govt taking concrete measures to facilitate & safeguard rights of minorities in Pakistan: Shazia Marri  

ISLAMABAD, June 02 (SABAH): The National Lobbying Delegation for Minority Rights (NLDMR) called on Shazia Atta Marri, Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, here at ministry on Thursday to discuss various issues faced by minorities in Pakistan.

The delegation was led by Anthony Naveed, member provincial assembly of Sindh, who briefed the Federal Minister about the basic goals of National Lobbying Delegation for Minority Rights and their efforts to resolve issues faced by the minorities in Pakistan.

The delegation highlighted their efforts of lobbying for implementation of 5% job quota for minorities in government departments and passage of Family Law for Hindus in 2016.

The delegation apprised Shazia Marri about the hardships and challenges faced by the non-Muslim sanitary workers all over the country. They explained that these workers were not equipped with modern tools for sanitation purpose and were forced to work in hazardous environment. The sanitary workers are not being provided social security or insurance in case of an accident while performing their duties. Hundreds of sanitary workers belonging to minorities were facing the issue job regularisation in different parts of Pakistan.

MPA Anthony Naveed, said that Institutions should have a code of conduct to ensure conducive working environment for all employees irrespective of their race, color, creed or religion as envisaged in the Constitution of Pakistan. Since the minorities did not get anything from the Zakat Fund in public hospitals, there should be some mechanism for their support too, he added.

Federal Minister Shazia Marri said that government was taking concrete measures to facilitate and safeguard rights of minorities in Pakistan. She said that the Pakistan People’s Party had declared 11th August as Minority Day in light of the 11th August speech of Qauid-e-Azam. She assured the delegation of maximum possible assistance for resolving issues faced by the non-Muslim Pakistanis.