HYDERABAD: Speakers have underscored the need for empowerment of women in Sindh and bringing about amendment in the Sindh Water Management Ordinance (SWMO) 2002 to ensure their due rights in water governance at different levels under the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida).

They were speaking at the launching ceremony of the ‘Women’s Increased Access to Water Resources and Agricultural Markets’ project held at a local hotel organised by the Stren­gthening Participatory Organi­sation (SPO).

Sindh Agriculture Minister Ismail Rahu said that all stakeholders of society were under obligation to struggle for equality of women and their empowerment. He said it was a society where women, including Benazir Bhutto, had to face some sort of discrimination. The enlightened and progressive class understood that without ensuring empowerment to women and guarantees to their due rights, neither the society could develop nor could it become a democratic or liberal one.

He said he had witnessed a polling station where candidates developed a consensus that women would not be allowed to cast votes, otherwise there would be bloody feuds over the ‘violation’.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had already made it clear that women’s empowerment was necessary at all forums and a task force was also formed on it. He said the PPP focused on those issues and the Kisan Card programme of the Sindh government, which was in the pipeline, was a step forward in that regard.

He said the PPP leaders, right from Z.A. Bhutto to Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, had been talking about women empowerment, stressing that women should be given representation at all policy forums so that a well-defined policy on their issues at all levels could be framed. He promised to work to get SWMO 2002 amendment bill passed through the Sindh Assembly. He said it was tabled in the house, but due to other assembly business, it could not be adopted.

Eminent economist Dr Kaiser Bengali called for ensuring direct election on reserved seats for women candidates. “Such elections should be held on a separate date after the general elections. It will have a strong political symbolism for them,” he said.

Talking about the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), he said that when it was designed, he learnt through the National Database and Registration Authority’s (Nadra) data that 24 million males and 16m females were married. Nadra explained that most women did not get their computerised national identity cards (CNICs) issued. Then mobile Nadra units were arranged and 13m women got their CNICs, he said.

“Women who don’t get their cards remain non-existent for the state,” he remarked. The BISP had given some sort of empowerment to women as women in any family knew that the money being spent in the house was provided in their name and that ensured their empowerment within the family. When a woman owned an asset, she attained a different commanding role in the family, he added.

Sindh Commission on Status of Women chairperson Nuzhat Shireen said the commission was seized of various issues in which women were overlooked and it was now working on those issues. She said women needed to become part of policymaking.

She said the commission would examine rape-related laws. Women faced identical issues in rural and urban areas, but the situation witnessed during the recent rains in rural Sindh was just shocking and deplorable. Rain-hit families were staying in the open along with women and they had no covered space to relieve themselves, she said.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2020