SKARDU, Dec 17: People are facing difficulties in Baltistan because of wheat shortage for the past couple of weeks. “The shortage of flour occurred after depletion of stock at the government’s wheat depot,” sources told Dawn here on Friday.
The commodity is available in the open market but is very expensive and beyond the means of most people, sources said.
They said there was no emergency wheat stock in the depot because of the apathy of the local civil supplies department.
The people criticized the local adminsitration for defects in the contract and rationing system.
“The system did little to ease people used to wait in queues for hours to get their quota. Most of the people preferred to buy flour bags from the open market on higher rates,” he maintained.
The people of Skardu and Ghanche have urged the authorities to ensure proper supply of wheat from the government depot to avert wheat shortage during the winter when KKH is impassable.
GENDER EQUITY: Speakers at a seminar held here the other day stressed the need for women’s right and gender equity.
The seminar entitled “Women’s rights and role of the society”, organized by Northern Areas Welfare and Development Organization, was attended by intellectuals, representatives of various women organizations and a large number of local women.
Allama Shaikh Jawad Hafizi said that the Northern Areas were deprived of legal and political rights for the last 58 years.
Principal Degree College, Prof Ghulam Hassan, said that the women of Baltistan were leading a better life by comparison with women living in other parts of the world as no woman had ever committed suicide there.
He said that women in Basltistan were also performing their duties. He urged the local women to educate their daughters, because only educated girls could realize their rights and duties and an educated society would be developed in the future.
The president of NAWADO, Wazir Farman Ali said that the women were facing difficulties because there was no woman judge in family court in the Northern Area’s as they were unable to state their personal problems in front of a male judge. He urged the government to extend the Family Laws Ordinance 2000 in the Northern Areas.
Representative of National Commission for the status of Women, Waqarunnisa cited killing of women in the name of honour in various parts of the country under different names, adding that people who killed their daughters did not bring their family honour back but only tarnish it by committing murders.
Kacho Manzoor, Sher Bano of AKRSP, Shazia Batool and many other also addressed at this occasion.
Baltistan Cultural Foundation and Aga Khan Cultural Services Program are playing vital role in preserving cultural and historical heritage of Baltistan.
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