KARACHI: Four women welfare projects being executed, PA told
KARACHI, Nov 30: Sindh Minister for Women Development Dr Saeeda Malik on Wednesday told the provincial assembly that four welfare projects for women, especially of rural areas, were under implementation.
She was replying a question asked by Mohammed Ayaz Soomro during question hour in the house. The four projects included the one relating to the establishment of a sales and display resource centre in Karachi.
This project envisages provision of a platform to women to develop their traditional skills and attain sophistication in their work, besides helping them upgrade their products and enabling them to compete in the elite national and international markets.
Dr Malik was of the view that the sales and display centre would help create better income opportunities for skilled women, particularly the under-privileged rural women, and improve quality of their life.
One of the other three projects, she said, pertained to the establishment of women complaint cells — one each in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Larkana.
She said such a cell would extend basic legal and counselling services to needy and distressed women who could also be referred to other relevant organizations for assistance if and when required.
The minister informed the house that the cell would also investigate complaints lodged by women victims. It would prepare case studies and collect and maintain data. On the basis of its findings and research, the government would promote human rights values, rules and laws.
Replying to Mr Soomro’s other question, the minister said her department did not receive any grant-in-aid from federal government during 2002-2003 and 2003-04. She said the department was being run with the provincial government’s budget and the credit of its establishment should go to the present government.
She said the crisis centre was a project funded by the federal government for which space, having a rental value of Rs30,000 per month, had been provided by provincial government free of charge. The centre helps solve the problems being faced by women and also provides medical and legal assistance to deserving women, according to her.
Planning Minister Shoaib Ahmed Bukhari, in reply to a question by Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar, told the house that the Sindh Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) had been wound up because of heavy financial losses it had been incurring for many years.
On behalf of Transport Minister Adil Siddiqui, Mr Bukhari said that all the 1,844 employees working at the time of the corporation’s closure had been given golden handshake, that included the amount of mark up.
The SRTC operation was stopped on Dec 6, 1999 under a golden handshake scheme after an agreement between its employees and the Sindh government.
He stated that payment of retirement dues and amount of golden handshake had been made in full to all ex-SRTC employees in June/July 2002 from the funds provided by Sindh government.
No dues of any employee were now outstanding against the government and each and every employee had given an undertaking acknowledging the same, the minister stated.
The house was told that no employee of the defunct SRTC had killed himself by resorting to self-immolation.
To a supplementary question, Mr Bukhari said the total amount of the payment made in this regard was Rs683 million, including Rs239 million paid under the head of golden handshake.
He said since January 2003, no employee had come out with a demand for payment of his dues.—APP
KARACHI, Nov 30: Sindh Minister for Women Development Dr Saeeda Malik on Wednesday told the provincial assembly that four welfare projects for women, especially of rural areas, were under implementation.
