ISLAMABAD, April 14: The policies of the federal and provincial women development departments were criticized by the civil society activists and a senior official of the ministry of women development here on Wednesday.

In a national consultation organized by an NGO to review the status of implementation of various international treaties for women emancipation, additional secretary for the ministry of women development, Sohail Safdar, said the ministry should not be involved in "parchoon ka kaam", but rather concentrate on policy matters.

Earlier, a woman activist, Tahira Abdullah, had pointed out that it was not the mandate of the ministry to run small projects. Mr Safdar was responding to scathing criticism while filling in for the adviser to the prime minister on women development, Nilofer Bakhtiar, who could not attend the consultation.

Another main speaker, Chief Economist Planning and Development Commission, Pervaiz Tahir, also could not attend the consultation due to other pressing engagements.

The ministry's senior official said the 65 small projects started by the ministry should be done away with the stroke of a pen as they had not delivered the desired benefits. The same has already been written on the files, he said.

In reply to a question about persistent demand for giving at least 10 per cent budget to the women union councillors, the official said the NRB had shot down the proposal citing legal objections for giving a raise from two to 10 per cent.

Responding to another question about lack of delivery in the provincial set-ups, the official said there was a gap between expectation and reality. The provincial departments were under- staffed and under-resourced, he said, adding, there was a need to strengthen the provincial women development infrastructure.

About sensitisation of police officials regarding women issues, Mr Safdar said new methodologies had to be worked out as the gender sensitisation workshops conducted by some NGOs had failed to deliver the result of sensitising police officials as desired.

Chairperson of National Commission on Status of Women (NCSW) Justice (retired) Majida Rizvi said the Islamic Conference convened last year could not be held. The Islamic Conference would be held in May-June this year, she added.

On the issue of discriminatory laws against women, she said the review of the Hudood Laws had been sent to the law ministry for incorporating the relevant changes. She said the NCSW was soliciting support of the politico-religious organizations to review and bring changes in the highly discriminatory Qisas and Diyat law.

On the issue of discrimination against women in the employment sector, Justice Rizvi said there was not a single woman posted as federal secretary in the government. The women were only at the lower tiers of the bureaucracy and the government should implement the recommendations of the NCSW on women's employment quota, she said.

Justice Rizvi pointed out that it would not take much to amend the Citizenship Act allowing the right to nationality to the husband of a Pakistani women if she married a foreigner. The Commission, she said had carried out a review of the Citizenship Act and had given recommendations to the government in this regard, she added.

Others who spoke on the occasion dilated on history of women specific UN resolutions including CEDAW implementation and the UN Conventions, Beijing+10, and the future strategies to be adopted in this regard.