28 March 2004	Sunday	06 Safar 1425

KARACHI, March 27: A day-care centre and a handicraft display unit is being established by the Sindh Women Development Department, and it will be inaugurated in a couple of weeks.

Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, the minister for women development, Dr Saeeda Malik, said that such day-care centres and handicraft display units would be established in other towns also.

She said the need for the centre was being felt for a long time and with more and more women seeking jobs, the demand was increasing, as young mothers were facing difficulties where to leave their young children while coming to their offices.

She said now with the day-care centre, young mothers could easily leave their children at the centre, which was located at a central place on Sharea Faisal near Nursery, and go to their offices and then collect their children while returning from their offices.

She said that a survey was being carried out in other towns in the interior of the province and such centres would also be set up there to serve the working women in smaller towns.

She said that products prepared by the women artisans would be put on display at the centre, which would be run on the no- profit no-loss basis.

She said that not only the artisans would be getting more money for their work, but customers would also get goods at reduced rates.

She said at present an over-whelming majority of women artisans live in remote rural areas and do not get true wages of their labour as a bulk of the profit is eaten up by the middlemen, who give very little money to rural artisans and sell goods at higher rater to customers.

The minister, who was assisted at the briefing by the secretary of women development, Nisar Ahmed Siddiqui, and director Farzana Saleem, said that a women complaint cell is also being set up near her office for which around Rs 1.5 million had been received.

She said that a doctor, a lawyer, social mobilizers and support staff will be present at the cell and it would provide legal, medical and other assistance to the women in distress.

She said such cells will also be opened in other towns of the province.

She said that she had arranged some funds for women prisoners, who had been granted bail but were still in jails as they were not able to get the bail / surety amount. She said that she had already approached the women jail authorities to get details of such prisoners.

She said that the department had prepared a gender reforms action plan and it will be presented in the next cabinet meeting. She said that Sindh is the first province which has worked out in this area and has prepared a plan, which after approval from the cabinet will be implemented.

She said that the department was also planning to open two rehabilitation centres for women victims of domestic violence.

She said that under a pilot project, two rehabilitation centres were being opened - one in Karachi and the other in Sukkur.

She said that the department was in the process of preparing a policy under which women's quota in education and jobs would be fixed till a time a gender equality was achieved.