ISLAMABAD, March 8: Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has said the government was committed to promoting the welfare of women in order to bring them into the mainstream of national life.

He was talking to Senator Razina Alam Khan, who called on him at the Prime Minister's Secretariat on Monday. Mr Jamali said the government accorded high priority to efforts aimed at overcoming social, educational and economic backwardness of women.

"Without integrating women, who forms more than half of the country's population, into our national fabric, it would not be possible to take rapid strides on the road to development," he added. The prime minister reiterated his government's commitment to the empowerment of women and ending all sorts of discriminations against them.