RAWALPINDI, Feb 24: The Rawalpindi Bar Association (RBA) has sought Rs30 million grant from the Punjab government to improve facilities at district courts and solve problems faced by the lawyers.

Speaking at a press conference here on Tuesday, the RBA office-bearers, including Ghazanfar Ali Shah (president), Abdurrashid Orakzai (vice-president) and Mumtaz Ahmed (general secretary), urged the government to install surveillance cameras at the courts and provide foolproof security to the judges.

They said the association should be provide with its due share in the Asian Development Bank's grants released for the upgradation of judiciary in the province.

Talking about the projects on which the proposed grant would be spent, the office-bearers said a part of the demanded amount would be utilized to purchase a piece of land in front of DCO's office for parking purposes.

They said at present, the district courts had no parking area owing to which people had to park their vehicles in the nearby Bhutto Shaheed Park. Besides lawyers and their clients, the judges also face problems due to the unavailability of parking space, they added.

The office-bearers said about 600 RBA members did not have chambers on the courts premises, while the association's library lacked latest publications. Besides there are neither waiting rooms nor washrooms for women visiting the district courts, they added.

Similarly, the said, there was no arrangement for availability of clean drinking water inside the courts. The office-bearers demanded of the government to double the number of policemen deployed at the courts and install security cameras on the premises.