The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has decided to develop a unified digital portal to register human rights complaints, refer them to the relevant departments, and monitor progress on their resolution, a move aimed at replacing a scattered complaint handling process with a single traceable system. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Adviser on Information and Public Relations Samar Haroon Bilour said that effective protection of human rights requires better coordination, information sharing, and joint strategies among the institutions involved, and that the proposed portal is meant to close the gaps that currently slow down complaint handling across the province.
Under the plan, no new parallel institution will be created. Existing bodies will instead be connected through a shared digital system that allows complaints to be received, forwarded to the concerned authority, tracked while action is under way, and recorded once a final outcome is reached, all on a single platform. Each organisation will continue to work within its own legal mandate. The Social Welfare Department, police, and ombudsman offices are among the institutions to be integrated, and a joint meeting held earlier this week, where the Director General of Law and Human Rights briefed participants on the proposed joint complaint referral mechanism, also identified a wider group of participants. Member of the Advisory Council for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Amir Javed said the list includes the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Charity Commission, the Provincial Ombudsman, the Right to Public Services Commission, the Right to Information Commission, the Commission on the Status of Women, the Child Protection and Welfare Commission, the Directorate of Labour, the police department Additional Inspector General Human Rights, and the Human Rights Cell of the Peshawar High Court.
Bilour has directed the relevant institutions to submit a detailed briefing within one month on progress towards establishing the portal, giving the initiative a clear near term checkpoint. She also stressed the importance of coordination at district level, saying that Additional Deputy Commissioners for Relief and Human Rights should play an active role in referring complaints to the right authorities. In addition, she called for human rights help desks to be set up at the offices of District Police Officers, so that people can register complaints more easily and reach the concerned authorities without having to approach multiple offices on their own.
The proposal reflects a practical problem that affects many citizens in Pakistan, where a single complaint may fall under the jurisdiction of several bodies and a complainant is often left without any clear way of knowing where the matter stands. A shared digital record with a defined referral path and visible progress tracking gives both institutions and complainants a common reference point, and creates a data trail that can show where delays occur. The portal also fits within a wider provincial push towards digital public services, which has already included the Khyber Pass QR based digital identity system and a series of technology initiatives in education, and its success will depend on how quickly the participating institutions can agree on data sharing arrangements and put the system into operation.
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