Gender mainstreaming panel fails to take off

PTI ousted Punjab Assembly standing committee’s head seven months back

LAHORE:

The Punjab Assembly’s Standing Committee on Gender Mainstreaming could hold only one meeting in the past two and a half years and a report on the proceedings of the sitting has not been presented in the house.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) terminated the party membership of Uzma Kardar, the chairperson of the standing committee, seven months ago. Her party membership was terminated after an audio recording about the leadership was leaked.

The Gender Mainstreaming Standing Committee has not taken any steps to monitor the Punjab Women Development Department's projects, implement existing laws and enact new legislation.

Despite the passage of half of the provincial assembly’s five-year term, the election of the women caucus has not been completed. According to sources, the formation of the caucus was withheld due to the possibility of victory of opposition members in the organisation.

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Two years ago, the chairperson of Punjab Commission on the Status of Women was removed instantly. However, the provincial government has not yet decided regarding the appointment to fill the post of the head of the important organisation.

The Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Zainab Umair, said that the head of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women was earlier given financial incentives of more than Rs700,000. The procedure for the appointment was being worked out and the post would be filled through an advertisement, she added. She said that she had suggested to Chief Minister Usman Buzdar that the panel should be abolished. Now the salary and benefits of the chairperson of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women have been made equal to grade 21.

She said the Prevention of Violence Against Women Act was passed in 2016 but no by-laws have yet been enacted to enforce the law. Under the law, the first women's centre was set up in Multan. However, funds were not released to run the centre and the employees had to protest for the payment of their salaries. The centres were were supposed to be set up in all major cities of Punjab. However, so far no such facility for deserving women has been set up in any other city.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 8^th, 2021.