Under lock and key: Women commission office sealed by landlord

Owner says belongings of the commission will be returned after payment of rent

PESHAWAR: The women of K-P may have to wait for development geared towards them as the office of the Provincial Commission on the Status of Women was sealed by the property owner due to nonpayment of the rent for the last six months.

The space was rented almost a year ago in University Town with an agreement to pay monthly rent of Rs0.12 million. However, the amount has not been paid since October 2015.

Officials told The Express Tribune on Sunday the commission’s office had to pay over Rs0.6 million rent to the landlord, but the failure to  hand over the amount compelled the latter to seal the property with furniture and important documents inside. The owner said all the belongings of the commission would be returned after the payment of rent.

She said an enquiry was held over the expenditure of the commission during the last few months. The finance department paid four months’ rent, but two months had yet to be paid after the completion of the enquiry. However, this case has been pending since the end of 2015.

An official of the social welfare department, requesting anonymity, said the PTI-led provincial government granted Neelum Toru the seat of the women commission’s chairperson due to her active participation in the party. He said the landowner sent several notices for payment of rent to the chairperson, but she did not inform the social welfare or finance departments of K-P.

The Express Tribune tried to contact Neelum Toru for comments, but she did not respond.

The Provincial Commission on the Status of Women was a statutory body established under NWFP Act XIX, 2009. The functions of the commission were to review provincial legislation for women, assess government programmes and projects for women, and monitor the mechanism and institutional processes for social care and justice for women.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2016.