LAHORE, May 20: The Punjab cabinet on Thursday okayed the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau bill that carries a maximum of five years jail for those who maim children for begging or exploit them through other means.

The cabinet approved the bill in its meeting presided over by Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi here at the Civil Secretariat. According to the draft law, the bureau to be headed by the chief minister would employ child protection officers for taking beggars, homeless and destitute children to the bureau offices with the help of police.

Child protection courts would be set up in consultation with the Lahore High Court for taking the children into custody for their rehabilitation and protection.

The children would be provided health cover and training in different skills for enabling them to lead normal life. The bill identified nine possible crimes against children.

The chief minister, speaking on the occasion, expressed his resolve to eliminate the scourge of child beggary once the bill is passed by the provincial assembly. He said the programme would be launched from Lahore where land had been acquired for the purpose.

The project would soon be extended to divisional and district levels, he added. Residences of the defunct divisional commissioners in different cities would be used for setting up homes for such children.

The chief minister warned that the government would sternly deal with mafia forcing children into beggary. Earlier, the home secretary briefed the cabinet about the measures taken for the maintenance of law and order in the province.

The chief minister said the arrest of accused involved in heinous crime like rape and kidnap for ransom was not enough. It was rather the duty of the administration to pursue cases in courts so that the culprits were punished under the law, he added.

IGP Saadatullah Khan told the cabinet about the progress made in connection with the detection of major crimes. The suspects in Multan and Narowal gang-rape incidents had been arrested, he claimed.

He said the old system of police inspection had now been revived for better management. The cabinet discussed a programme to be introduced in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank for improving representation of women at various levels, besides generating job opportunities for them.

It also approved a draft law for the establishment of an institution for the promotion of Punjabi language and culture which would be tabled in the next sitting of the assembly for approval along with the one about the child beggary.