News Detail
Event Title: Senator Danesh Kumar, Convener "Minority Caucus" presiding over a meeting of the Caucus at Parliament House, Islamabad
Event Date: 2026-09-10
Senate Minority Caucus Convenes to address the issues of Quota Shortfalls and Workplace Discrimination Across Federal Ministries
The Committee was attended by MNAs Ramesh Lal, Naveed Aamir, Ms.Neelam and State Minister Kesoo Mal Kheal Das, along with Senior Officials and relevant officers from Ministry of Religious Affairs & Interfaith Harmony, Ministry of Human Rights
The Parliamentary Caucus on Minorities met today under the convenorship of Senator Danesh Kumar to review minority rights, non-observance of workplace discrimination laws, and severe shortfalls in the 5% recruitment quota across federal ministries.
The Committee expressed strong displeasure over the absence of key top officials, including the Secretary Establishment Division and Chairman National Highway Authority (NHA). Taking serious note of their absence the Committee issued a final warning to both officers and directed the ministries that strict action will be taken by the committee including a joint privilege motion if they fail to attend the next meeting and Committee will have "Zero Tolerance" over this matter. The Chairperson Senator Danesh kumar noted that the matter would also be formally escalated to the Prime Minister, Speaker of the National Assembly, and Chairman Senate.
During the proceedings, Agenda Item No.I and III was deferred due to the Absence and incomplete and illegible documentation presented by official representatives, which included cut off tables and missing quota metrics. The Convenor directed the ministry officials to provide clean, complete, and properly bound booklets alongside soft copies via WhatsApp prior to the next session.
Deliberating on Agenda Item No. II regarding human rights and employment discrimination, the Director General (Human Rights) informed the committee that while constitutional guarantees under Article 27 and Establishment Division Office Memoranda (2009 & 2020) mandate the carry forward of unfilled minority quotas, implementation remains a major hurdle.
Committee member MNA Ramesh Lal strongly contested claims regarding a shortage of qualified minority candidates for BPS-16 and above, asserting that thousands of highly qualified minority graduates remain unemployed due to a lack of institutional commitment by federal ministries. The Chairperson of the Committee Senator Danesh Kumar also raised his concern over the discriminatory practices in Recruitment advertisment, He observed that when it comes to small jobs, such as sweepers, the job advertisements often specifically mention that these positions are only for non-Muslims. Why is that? Why does such blatant discrimination still exist.
Minister of State Kesoo Mal Kheal Das supported the concern, emphasizing that government policy must ensure structured outreach and coordination so minority positions are properly publicized and filled.
To address the backlog and ensure transparency, the Ministry of Human Rights submitted key recommendations to the Committee, including Centralized Data Portal which will help in establishing a publicly accessible database detailing all vacant minority quota positions across federal departments and also a Special Recruitment Drives the Launching dedicated recruitment campaigns to clear the historical quota backlog, alongside flexible age relaxation policies along with that the DG Human Rights briefed the committee about Targeted Publicity it will help in Coordinating with minority platforms and civil society to publicize vacancies effectively in remote areas.
The Chairperson of the committee Senator Danesh Kumar directed that these recommendations be made part of the official minutes and adjourned the meeting, reiterating that all concerned Federal Secretaries must ensure their personal presence at the next session with updated figures.