PESHAWAR, Dec 3: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah on Wednesday said the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance (JJSO) would be extended to the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas.

The assurance was given by the governor at a meeting with the delegation of an NGO, Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, according to a press release.

Arshad Mahmood, who led the delegation, informed the governor that the children living in Pata and Fata remained deprived of the relief provided under the JJSO as the law was not extended to these tribal areas.

He said there was a need to increase the number of probation officers in the province from the existing 13.

He pointed out that there was no female probation officer in the NWFP.

The delegation informed the governor that the maximum number of children could be released from jails in the NWFP if exclusive juvenile courts were established in Kohat, Peshawar, Mardan and Swat.

Emphasizing the need for special prisons for children, the delegation demanded that the Adolescent Training Centre inside the Haripur Jail should be converted into a Borstal.