ISLAMABAD, Jan 17: The Senate Secretariat has asked the defence ministry to submit a progress report as to what action it had taken on the recommendations of the Senate sub-committee on human rights for resolution of the Okara military farmlands issue , a source told Dawn here on Monday.

The source said the Senate Secretariat had sent a letter, marked as 'Most Immediate', to the ministry on January 12 through a 'special messenger' asking the defence ministry to intimate the upper house about the measures taken with respect to the sub- committee's recommendations. The ministry has been asked to respond as early as possible in the matter, the source said.

A three-member sub-committee of the Senate had visited the Okara military farms on August 12, last year, and submitted its report which was later placed before the Senate on December 7, last year. The sub-committee had suggested various measures and made recommendations to resolve the festering dispute.