government or private jobs. In response to this complaint, NCHR sent a letter to PMC to ascertain the facts and reasoning behind this decision. Due to NCHR’s intervention, all 600 students were registered by PMC. Baloch Student Protest Students gathered at Islamabad Press Club protesting the harassment and disappearance of Baloch students at various universities across the country. Hafeez Baloch, a student of the Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad, was also picked up by security forces from his hometown Khuzdar in February. He was booked for terrorism after weeks of detention without an FIR. Chairperson NCHR visited and spoke with the students in a show of solidarity (pictured below). Minority Quota in Government Jobs Following the nationwide consultations for its strategic action plan, one of the first issues brought to the attention of the Commission was the misuse of the minority quota within government positions, particularly with regard to religious discrimination in the hiring practices of sanitation work. During NCHR’s probe into the issue for its fact-finding report, the Commission used its powers of inquiry to send letters to Chief Secretaries of each province and the Federal Government to clarify their recruitment policies. On NCHR’s inquiry, the federal and provincial governments clarified their hiring and safety policies pledging to end discriminatory advertisements. Furthermore, the Ministry of Defense withdrew a discriminatory advertisement and readvertised the positions after NCHR’s intervention. NCHR welcomed the pledges but reserved the right to seek legal recourse if the discriminatory advertisements were to restart. In addition, NCHR also worked toward the regularisation of sanitation workers, and set out recommendations to combat the job quota discrimination and lobbied for the proper protection and minimum wages for sanitary workers. NCHRs Report on discrimination in hiring practices was acknowledged in the UK House of Lords with Lord Alton penning a letter of appreciation to the Commission. 14