ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb on Saturday said though the government has been doing a lot to give equal rights to women, private sector should also come forward to create awareness of gender discrimination in the society.

“Unfortunately, we live in a society where parents don’t allow their daughters to participate in sports because they fear that they will get tanned, making it difficult for them to find suitable grooms. We need to look into it and take steps to change the psyche,” she said while speaking at an event titled ‘Press for Progress’ organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP) in connection with Chartered Accountant Women’s Day.

Ms Aurangzeb said the government had allocated 16pc seats for women in the National Assembly.

Moreover, it is mandatory for political parties to give 5pc tickets to women. Similarly, 33pc women representation has been suggested in governing boards of public sector institutions, she said.

Minister asks parents to allow their daughters to participate in sports

“Quaid-i-Azam advocated equal rights for women, which is why he gave importance to Fatima Jinnah in all matters,” she added.

The minister appreciated the Benazir Income Support Programme’s (BISP) initiative of linking its financial assistance with sending children to school.

“The Chartered Accountant Women Committee should play its role in creating awareness among people of child-abuse issues,” she said, referring to the government steps to deal with the issue.

ICAP Vice President Jafar Husain said women had proved that they were much better than men as in medical colleges female students occupied 70pc seats on merit. This forced the government to allocate only 50pc quota for female students so that male students could also get admissions,” he said.

First elected female council member of ICAP Hina Usmani said at present 20pc of the female chartered accountants were not working because of social barriers. She said there was a need to attract more women to different professions.

Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2018