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Policy-making on women s issues Centre s job: PM

Posted on: Mon July 11, 2011

LAHORE - Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani said here on Sunday that though the ministries of minorities as well as women development have been devolved to the provinces under the 18th amendment, policy making on women issues, however, shall remain the prerogative of the Federal government.

Presiding over a meeting of the PPP woman parliamentarians from Punjab Assembly at his DHA residence, the PM said the Ministry of Human Rights will also look after women rights and minorities issues at the Federal level.  He said his government was taking concrete steps for political and economic empowerment of women to ensure a viable role for them in society.

 The empowerment of women will establish their social status and bring about a change to facilitate the process of development in the country, he observed. Talking about various government initiatives for women, he said the Women s Parliamentary Caucus in the National Assembly and the Federal Commission on the Status of Women had played useful role in highlighting the issues concerning women in Pakistan, assuring the government would extend the fullest support to the commission for the betterment of women.

The Premier said the government had already granted autonomy to the commission so that it could work independently for the betterment of women. The PM said the elected women representatives had an important role in promoting and evaluating policies of the government as well as their party. Admiring the role of women parliamentarians and PPP workers in promoting Benazir Income Support Program, he said that BISP was primarily a women-focused project aimed to help out the poor segments of society. He said data collected through Poverty Survey under the BISP was a very important document which would help reveal the exact details regarding the economic status of the masses in various areas of the country, adding it would help the government to prepare policies and chalk out plans to reach out to the downtrodden and poor strata of society as well as work for their socio-economic uplift.

Acknowledging the role of women, he said that women constitute 51 percent of the population in Pakistan and their active role was vital to stabilise democratic system. About the democratic stability, the Premier said that the present democratic system and the parliament must complete its five year term in order to strengthen the roots of democracy in Pakistan.

Courtesy : Nation