KARACHI, June 17: Federal information minister, Nisar Ahmad Memon, announced on Monday that a new daily public service programme giving information regarding missing children would be started on television in a few days.

Speaking at a function to celebrate the first year of the helpline for women and children, Madadgar — a joint project of the Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid and UNICEF — he said that he would issue directives in a day or two for the programme to start.

Responding to another suggestion given by an earlier speaker whose child went missing during a visit to the city zoo, he said that public address systems would be installed at selected parks, zoo, etc, from where announcements could be made in case a child went missing.

He said that the equipment would be installed by the government, while Madadgar would provide the person and other assistance to operate it. He also made a personal donation of Rs10,000 to Madadgar to start a theatre group to highlight the injustices society committed on weaker sections, particularly women and children.

He said that he would also suggest to the electronic media to develop their drama series highlighting injustices such as child labour, forced labour, domestic violence, kidnapping, sexual harassment at work place, etc.

Earlier, the LHRLA chief, Zia Ahmad Awan, said that victimization of women and children was rampant in the rural areas where a majority of the population lived.

He said that efforts were being made to start organizations similar to Madadgar in the rural areas also, so that the population there could also have access to help in time of need.

He said that helping victims was not an easy job and he and his organization received threats from various quarters on a regular basis. He said that even the police did not like the organization as it had been critical of the role played by the police while handling victims, particularly women and children.

Earlier, various victims helped by Madadgar — a parent whose child was kidnapped and later recovered and another whose child was recovered from the grandparents, also spoke.

Earlier, a Madadgar representative gave a brief resume of the organization. He said that it monitored over 22 newspapers and collected data regarding sexual harassment, kidnapping, Karo- kari, domestic violence, rape, suicide, sodomy, etc. Some data was also given to highlight the gravity of the issues that made it to the press. A vast majority of the incidents might not have been reported at all, he added.

The Madadgar representative said that its psychologists also provided assistance to victims, free legal aid to the needy, referred shelters if required, etc. People were told to call the helpline during the daytime to get assistance and information.

Begum Mumtaz Rashdi, Jamila Qavi, Shaukat Hussain, Dr Nisar Ali Shah, Shahid Iqbal, Kauser, Abida and others also spoke.

Earlier, a play highlighting various injustices that the society committed against women and children was staged by the Madadgar staff members. A song was presented by the students of Trinity High School.