Rural working women

A report proves once again how wrong perceptions get promoted imperceptibly

Pakistani women are neither idle nor parasites. Women, educated and uneducated, in urban and rural areas, now work and are adding both to the well-being of their families and the nation. Unfortunately, a wrong perception prevails even among the educated segments of our society that we keep our women mostly confined to the home — in cities, towns and villages. Quite the contrary. A report carried by this newspaper brings in full glare the reality proving once again how wrong perceptions get promoted imperceptibly, so much so that they are accepted as reality even by the victims.

The report covers a few families in a village of Bhakkar district in south Punjab, a district left a little behind in the march to progress and development. In one family, the husband unable to work due to health reasons, the wife and their daughters work in agricultural fields as hired labourers, rear cattle, tend milch cows, buffaloes and camels, and make handicrafts, to support themselves. Besides working with their mother, nearly all daughters are acquiring education. In the harvesting seasons, they work as farmhands for which they are paid both in cash and kind. They make pearl necklaces, different varieties of baskets from ferns that are locally available, make bricks, and in winter they sew quilts.

However, due to problems involved in marketing their goods they are not paid appropriately for their skills and labour. They have demanded of the government to provide them with loans on easy terms, help in marketing their products and aid in improving their skills. These rural women have a strenuous daily routine. They have to work to provide for their families and also prepare meals and do other household chores. In this way, women work far more than men. Educated women are assisting other women and men in their dealings with government offices and banks. Women in most of the country work shoulder to shoulder with their male counterpart.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2020.

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