LAHORE, June 23: Complaints against police and departments dealing in public utilities and development projects constitute the bulk of grievances, which the Punjab office of the human rights' directorate is receiving.

The directorate, a subsidiary of the law, justice and human rights ministry, said here on Wednesday such complaints were pouring in every day, though a majority of people was still not aware of its establishment.

The federal government set up last year human rights' directorates in the four provinces with the avowed objective of meeting its obligation under the constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also appointed provincial monitoring committees holding the provincial governments responsible to follow such complaints and get those redressed as far as possible.

However, the covert objective seems to take the initiative away from non-government organizations, which the government believes are blowing every issue out of proportion and bringing a bad name to the state and its organs across the world.

The directorates have so far been a great success, as a large number of complaints are pouring in despite the fact that their establishment has not adequately been publicized.

According to a directorate officer, complaints so received are sent to departments concerned with a copy to the provincial monitoring committee, which is headed by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi in the Punjab.

The local directorate said it was receiving complaints against all acts that fell within the mischief of human rights. Honour killings, bonded labour, illegal detention, torture, violence against women, child labour and abuse, treatment to prisoners in violation of the jail manual, and offences against property were some of the broad categories of human rights' violation complaints.

Some cases from foreign countries, mostly about kidnapping of children by Pakistani fathers and mothers, were also received by the directorate. Such a case from Canada had recently been received, it added.

The people, the directorate said, were also filing complaints against lack of civic amenities and incomplete development projects. Most of the human rights' violation cases had been reported from districts outside Lahore.