ISLAMABAD: Despite constituting nearly half of the country’s population, women account for only five per cent of the federal government’s civilian workforce.

According to the latest figures compiled by the Pakistan Public Administration Research Centre (PPARC) of the Establishment Division, out of more than 1.2 million employees in the federal government and its affiliated entities, only 49,508 are women. This includes 30,190 female employees within the government and 19,318 in autonomous bodies and corporations.

This is despite a 10pc quota for employment of women to all posts across the board in federal government services, including the Civil Superior Services (CSS), to be filled by direct recruitment, in addition to their selection on open merit.

The report said the actual working strength of federal government female employees for the year 2022-23 stood at 30,190 as against 28,455 a year earlier, showing an increase of 6.09pc.

Despite making up half the population, women hold only 5pc of federal jobs

“Out of the total strength of 590,585 of federal government employees, the share of female employees in government sector is almost 5.11pc during 2022-23,” it said.

The data showed that of the 30,190 female employees, 22.24pc (or 6,715) were officers in BS 17-22 and the remaining 77.76pc (23,475) were subordinate staff in BS 1-16.

Of the female employees in BS 17 to 22, 63.01pc were in BS-17, 24.1pc in BS-18, 9.81pc in BS-19, 2.37pc in BS-20, 0.6pc in BS-21; and 0.12pc were working in BS-22 in the federal government.

Among the female employees working in BS 1-16, 33.97pc were in BS 1-5, 23.48pc in BS-16, 13.20pc in BS-14, 8.54pc in BS-7, 8.13pc in BS-9, 6.59pc in BS-11, 3.02pc in BS-15, 1.18pc in BS-6, while other scales had minor share.

The Defence Division employs the largest proportion of female workers, hiring 37.31pc of all women employed in the federal government. This is followed by Federal Education and Profes­sional Training Division (20.42pc), Interior Division (7.10pc), Nati­onal Health Serv­ices, Regulations & Coordi­nation (6.52pc), and Aviation Division (4.75pc).

In the federal secretariat, the total working strength of female employees stood at 986, of which 39.66pc were working in BS-17 to 22 while 60.34pc in BS 1 to 16.

Of the 391 female officers working in the Federal Secretariat, 47.31pc were in BS-18, 27.62pc in BS-17, 12.79pc in BS-19, 7.93pc in BS-20, 3.32pc in BS-21 and 1.02pc in BS-22.

The number of female employees in BS-1 to 16 at the Federal Secretariat stood at 595, of whom 28.57pc were in BS-15, 17.98pc in BS-16, 17.48pc in BS 1-4, 14.29pc in BS-9, 11.93pc in BS-14, and 8.57pc in BS -11.

The total number of female employees in attached departments of the government was reported at 22,018. Of this, 5,824 (26.45pc) were working in BS-17 to 22. This included 63.35pc in BS-17, 22.65pc in BS-18, 9.72pc in BS-19, 2.01pc in BS-20, 0.24pc in BS-21, and none in BS-22.

On the other hand, of 16,194 females in BS-1 to 16 working in attached departments, 32.04pc were reported in BS-16, 20.95pc in BS 1-5, 17.26pc in BS-14, 9.05pc in BS-7, 7.97pc in BS-9, 7.12pc in BS-11, and 2.78pc in BS 15, while other scales had minor share.

“In autonomous bodies and corporations, there are 19,318 female employees, comprising 5.41pc of the total employees,” the report said, putting the total number of employees in these entities at 357,025.

A total of 6,699 females were working in subordinate offices, of whom 325 were in BS-17 to 22 and the remaining in BS 1-16.

The working strength of female employees for the year 2022-23 across all autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies and corporations under the federal government showed a minor increase of 0.32pc compared to the previous year’s figure of 19,257. The actual working strength of female employees shows that 32.75pc were officers working in BS 17-22 or equivalent and the remaining 67.25pc in BS 1-16 or equivalent.

Among the female employees working in autonomous, semi- autonomous bodies and corporations, the provincial and regional domicile-wise breakdown showed that the share of Punjab was 63.35pc (including 6.24pc from Islamabad), followed by Sindh 21.01pc (Sindh Rural 6.92pc and Sindh Urban 14.09pc), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 9.5pc and Balochistan 3.17pc.

The share of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit Baltistan and erstwhile Fata stood at 1.98pc, 0.79pc and 0.21pc, respectively, in total female employees.

The share of female employees from Fata, Sindh (rural) and Punjab decreased compared to the previous year.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2025