Proposed legislation: New K-P law to grant women’s panel autonomy

The chairperson shall be a woman empowered to have executive authority over commission’s affairs

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has tabled a bill in the provincial assembly to reconstitute the commission on the status of women, making it an autonomous corporate entity.

The bill titled ‘The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women Act 2016’ was tabled after the government encountered fierce criticism over the existing law ‘The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Commission on the Status of Women Act 2009’.

Members of civil society claimed that the law made the commission dependent on the provincial social welfare department, especially for its finances.

The new bill grants financial autonomy to the commission.

It states that the existing commission and its members shall continue their functions under this [the 2016 Act] till the expiry of their tenures. After their tenure expired, the commission shall be reconstituted and it shall have 15 members, including chairperson, to be appointed by the government.

The chairperson shall be a woman empowered to have executive authority over the management of the commission’s affairs.  The bill, however, lacks provisions to specify qualification and experience for the post.

In Punjab, the Commission on Status of Women Act 2014, it is mandatory for the chairman to have at least 15 years of experience of working on issues relating to women and their rights.

The existing law and the tabled bill are both unspecific in this regard. The chairman or non-official members of the commission “shall be persons of integrity, good standing and repute having the knowledge of laws relating to women. They shall be appointed for three years and can be re-appointed”.

At least eight of its non-official members shall also be women, and at least one from any minority group.

Official members shall include two female members of the provincial assembly, both to be nominated by the government and the leader of the opposition.

While the new bill retains the name of the commission –

Commission on the Status of Women Fund – it empowers the commission to keep money in its custody and also allows freedom to invest it. The bill empowers the commission to appoint officers, advisers, consultants and employees. It also gives job security and seniority of employees who were validly appointed under the existing law.

The commission will be a corporate body based in Peshawar, while the government shall post a government officer of the rank of BS-19, as the secretary of the commission for a three-year term.

The secretary shall be principal accounting officer of the commission.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2016.