RAWALPINDI, April 20: Adviser to the prime minister on women development Nelofar Bakhtiar on Tuesday said the government had prepared a plan to implement Juvenile Justice System Ordinance in letter and spirit this year.

She was talking to journalists after attending as a chief guest, a prize distribution ceremony at the Government Jamia Higher Secondary School, Farooq-i-Azam Road, Shamsabad. The event had been organized by Parcham Welfare Organization for awarding prizes and awards to the position-holders and needy students of about 30 government, private and federal schools in the city.

The adviser said the convicts below the age of 18 years would not be handed down death sentence by any court from now on. A survey of all jails throughout the country will be conducted to prepare a list of prisoners under 18 years of age. The list will then be produced in courts in a bid to hold trials of the juvenile offenders and accused in the light of the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance.

Replying to a question, Ms Bakhtiar said, earlier, the age limit for juvenile was 16 years in the ordinance, but the government had announced a two-year increase in the age limit. The increase had been made for easy implementation of the ordinance. Unfortunately, she said, the juvenile ordinance could no be implemented so far since its inception more than two years ago.

She said 2004 was the year of special children and the government would take all steps to enable them to perform a healthy role in the development of the country. In this regard, special children will be made independent by providing them various skills.

Earlier, Ms Bakhtiar asked the parents to make optimal utilization of their resources to provide best education to their children. She said money was best invested when spent on the education of the younger generation. She asked the parents to cut down their spendings and invest as much as possible on providing quality education to their children.

She also asked them to spend equally on the education of girls and boys. Without providing best education to girls, no country could make progress, she added.

The adviser also announced that a vocational centre would be established in the locality at a point, where majority people were poor. The centre will provide an earning and skill-acquiring opportunity to the downtrodden people, she added.

She also asked the needy and deserving people to submit their forms for attaining the beneficiary status of Pakistan Baitul Mal as soon as possible. She said the government wanted to include more beneficiaries in the food support programme of Baitul Mal.

She also asked those teachers who were teaching science and mathematics subjects to submit their names to her so that they might be sent on government expenses to the United States for more education.

The principle of the Jamia Higher Secondary School, Ikramullah Safdar, requested the adviser to solve the long- standing sewerage and water shortage issues faced by the school. He said there was no tubewell in the school, owing to which acute water shortage persisted there throughout the year.