Mothers in the workforce deserve daycare

Every company in this country has a room for everything except the one thing that would actually keep women in the workforce.

Pakistan loves women, on paper, on banners, and especially on Women's Day, when everyone posts a nice graphic and feels good about themselves. "We respect women here." Really? So where is the daycare? "Women are our pride." Beautiful words. So, where is the pride's crib and caretaker? "We believe in women empowerment." Do you? Do you really? Then walk into your office right now and tell us where the daycare is. Point to it. Show us. Because if it is not an actual room you can stand in and say "here", you are not a leader - you are a loudspeaker.

What kind of equality is this where being a mother disqualifies her?

Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah himself declared that no nation can rise to glory unless women stand side-by-side with men. He did not say "mostly side-by-side." He did not say "when it is convenient for the employer." He said, "side-by-side." Full stop. Today, we quote him in textbooks, paste his words on state walls, name roads after him, and then build offices in 2026 with no daycare facility. Is that the side-by-side he campaigned for? Is that what we call honouring our founder? Because it looks a lot more like contradicting his principle.

"She can work from home," they say. Can she? Can a surgeon work from home? Can a teacher? Can a factory worker? Can a banker? Stop using remote work as an excuse to avoid building one room. It is nothing but a cheap rationalisation and a patronising deflection, and it is seen through by every working parent.

Here is what the nation's legal conscience demands: enforcement - and there is no room for debate.

Every office, every company, every institution, every government department, every hospital, every university, every startup with more than twenty-five employees must have a mandatory daycare facility. Neither suggestion nor guideline. Neither a soft recommendation nor something lost in an unread policy file. What accountability actually looks like is a binding statute. Written clearly. Enforced aggressively. And most importantly…with real consequences.

The only exemption should be for organisations with fifteen to twenty-five employees. That is the whole and sole exclusion. If you have twenty-six employees or more, you are not small. You are not a struggling little startup anymore. You are running a workplace, and you will run it properly, including for the mothers inside it.

And if they refuse? If they sit in their big chair and decide this does not apply to them? Then that company name should get listed publicly. Documented. Visible to everyone. Fines should start immediately. Operating licences should go under review. Government contracts should be cancelled on the spot because refusing to support women in your workforce is not a business decision. It is a violation, and we must punish it like one.

"But it is too expensive," they say. Oh really. This from the same office that just renovated the CEO's private bathroom. That flew the entire sales team to Dubai for a "team building retreat". That spent a fortune on a fancy new logo. But one room with some basic furniture and a caretaker? Suddenly, there is no budget. Suddenly, there are complications. Suddenly, the finance team is very, very concerned. Save it. Nobody is checking that box as "legit" anymore.

So here is the question your posters forgot to address: if women are truly equal in this country, where is the room that proves it? Because until that room exists, equality in Pakistan is just a banner waiting to be taken down on March 9th.