KARACHI, Feb 28: Federal minister for law, justice and human rights, Barrister Shahida Jameel, on Thursday asked the civil defence department to work actively during the days of peace.

Speaking at a seminar on “Civil Defence And You” organised by Civil Defence Sindh at the Liaquat National Library here, the minister lauded the role of volunteers in protecting the of the citizens.

She said that civil defence was an important department, but due to bad governance during the previous governments the department became inactive.

Shahida Jameel recalled that the department had done a tremendous job during the 1965 war, in which citizens also cooperated with the department.

“After the war, the then government created the National Cadet Corps (NCC), but its original role to protect the citizens was changed,” she said adding that the citizens should be provided civil defence training.

The minister did not agree to the proposal that the department should work like an NGO and said it had to play the role of a public organisation. She added that in the new local government setup the department was being given under the control of the district government.

She said that while designing big projects of buildings the rules of civil defence were often ignored. She referred to the fire incident at the Shaheed- e- Millat Secretariat in Islamabad and said that the fire fighters could not reach beyond the 14th storey of the building because no lengthier ladder was available in the capital.

The other speakers on the occasion lauded the role of the department in both peace and war situations.

The speakers included acting Nazim of the city government, Tariq Hassan, director of civil defence Nayyar Mehmood, noted psychiatrist Dr Ayesha Sadaf, chairman of Piyam-e-Pakistan, Iqbal Yousuf, chairperson of the Ladies’ Forum, Farzana Rehman, veteran journalist Agha Masood and former federal minister Haji Hanif Tayyab.—APP