First female gas station attendant inspires women

Urges women to step forward and seize opportunities with courage and determination

ISLAMABAD:

Rukusna Manzoor, the first female attendant at the PSO filling station near the Foreign Office in the federal capital, has set an example for women's empowerment and called upon women to come forward and participate in all walks of life with courage and bravery to realize their empowerment.

She said, "Women have bright prospects in the male-dominated petroleum sector, particularly as attendants at their local filling stations." She said that as the sole breadwinner of her family, she was facing numerous challenges, and choosing such a unique type of profession was the result of her aptitude, which was not an easy task to do. She urged women to make their own destinies.

Rukusna said that if I had sat at home, I would have had no future and that she worked hard and successfully made a career in a challenging field. "If I have to change my life, I must begin with myself. I'm not going to accept defeat; I will fight, and there is no looking back now."

She said that it was very difficult for her to meet the essential expenditures of her six-member family with four kids and a sick husband on her meagre salary. She said that it was important for every woman to participate in all sectors to make herself economically independent by living a decent life with honour. She added that she was proud of herself for being a symbol of hope as the country's only female filling station attendant.

Rukusna Manzoor said that she had always received public encouragement for choosing a male-dominated profession and that she was a role model for other women.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2024.