CHITRAL: Lack of transport and accommodation facilities are the common problems facing the working women in Chitral.

This was disclosed at an open kutcheri arranged by Chitral Deputy Commissioner Irshad Sodhar for the working women here on Tuesday. It was revealed that while local working women faced transport problems the non-locals had accommodation issue.

The women stressed the need for creating job opportunities for their gender as well widening the base of women entrepreneurship so they could be able to exploit the locally available resources.

On the occasion, Mr Sodhar enumerated the measures to be taken for amelioration of women with special focus on the working women. He said keeping in view the socio-cultural environment of the area a women-only market was being established in the Chitral city.

He said the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority had approved grants for 36 women of Chitral who would start their business and many more would get the money in due course of time leading to development of women entrepreneurship.

Mr Sodhar said the women across Chitral would get opportunities of earning livelihood within next couple of months as the district administration was banning black polythene shopping bags to be replaced by biodegradable bags whose preparation would be entrusted to women.

He said bulk of such biodegradable bags would be purchased from the women at their doorsteps. He said the women had also been entitled to share the amount accrued from the forest royalty for the first time.

He said a complaint centre had been set up in his office where working women could register their complaints of any nature.

On the occasion, DPO Mansoor Aman expressed concern over rising number of suicides among the young women in the district and asked them to assert their complaints instead of concealing them.

Fakhr-i-Chitral Awards were given to a number of women who accomplished services in different walks of life.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2017