December 30, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 08, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, Dec 29: Hundreds of women sanctioned loans by the First Women Bank to run small businesses returned frustrated as the Chandni Chowk branch of the bank had no cash to pay them. The bank presented a chaotic scene as women holding a cheque in one hand and their baby in the other struggled to gain entry into the bank through its barred gate.

Some 300 of them had converged at the bank because they were told that Friday would be the last day to secure their loans. “We are on our feet since morning to get our loans but there is no hope that we will get it,” Shabana Kousar, holding her two- year-old baby, told Dawn.

She said women had come from all tehsils of Rawalpindi and most of their male escorts were daily wage workers.

Naeem Akhtar, another woman waiting to get her loan, said two women fell unconscious because of fatigue and hunger as they came from far-flung areas of Rawalpindi and had no meals.

“I left my two children at home hoping I would return early with the loan. But it is proving a hopeless wait,” she said.