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QUETTA

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPERNDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPER

ON

WOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICEWOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICE:

ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Submitted by:

NAUSHAD AHMAD

PARTICIPANT OF

1st MID CAREER MANAGEMENT COURSE3rd March 2008 10th May 2008

Advisor: MR MAQBOOL ALI Zafar


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Acknowledgement

The term paper is an important component of the 1 st Mid Career Management

Course in Public Sector Management. In order to furnish this assignment within the

stipulated time, one requires adequate resources such as relevant material books,

typing and photocopying facility and conducive environment.

I wish to place on record my deep appreciation and gratitude to Air Commodore

(Retd) Shaukat Haider Changezi, SI(M) SBt, Director General, Lt Col (Retd) Hamid

Ghani Anjum TI(M) Course Coordinator, and Mr Faris Rehman Chief Instructor, and

other officials at NIM for their assistance and creating the right setting which helped me

to complete my assignment without much difficulty.

I am indeed indebted to Mr Maqbool Ali Zafar Senior Instructor, a veteran and

honest research scholar who guided me all through the stages of the assignment with

his acumen, dexterity for which I can claim that I have learned a lot from him which will

guide me all through my life.

I am also thankful to Dr Rehmat Ibad Khan Director/Assistant Collector,Employees Old-age Benefit Institute, Under Labour Division Govt of Pakistan for his

guidance and providing me relevant material and data on the subject.

Finally, I would be failing in my obligation, if I do not acknowledge the

unconditional and sheer support of Mr Tanveer Hussain Library Officer, and Syed

Farzand Ali Acting Programme Officer without whose help it would have been a

Herculean task to be completed.

Naushad Ahmad


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

S NO CHAPTER NO TOPICS PAGE #

1. CHAPTER- 1 ABSTRACT 4

2. CHAPTER - 2 INTRODUCTION 6

3. CHAPTER- 3 RESEARCH DESIGN

AND METHODOLOGY 10

4. CHAPTER 4 POPULATION LABOUR FORCE 12

5. CHAPTER 5 WOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICE 20

6. CHAPTER 6 CHALLENGES 28

7. CHAPTER 7 ISSUES 34

8. CHAPTER 8 CONCLUSION /

RECOMMENDATIONS 39

BIBLIOGRAPHY 42


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ABSTRACT

This research paper titled "Women in Public Service-Issues and Recommendation"

provides an in-depth and thought provoking information about the importance of role of

women in economic development of Pakistan. It contains information about the state of

education and employment of women in Pakistan. A detailed review about

discrimination and social prejudices based on sex has been presented and educational

status and service opportunities for females in Pakistan have been discussed. The

purpose of the research was to examine the role and status of women with in the

strategies and instrumentality of development in Pakistan. The four central questions

underlying this study are:- a) What is the present condition of women regardingeducation and employment. . b) To what extent and at what level did women participate

in Public Service accruing in Economic Development efforts in Pakistan and c) How did

this participation of women contribute to the relative success of economic development

efforts in the country?

In reality. women are an integral part of the economic process of the country within and

outside their homes, in the formal and informal sectors in urban and rural areas.

Besides women's participation in Public Service is minimal, they are almost negligible in

contributing to the national economy. Rural women are major contributors in four sub-

sectors of the rural economy, crop production, livestock production, cottage industry,

household and family maintenance activities, such as transporting water, fuel and

fodder to and from the home, food preparation and preservation and caring for children,

the elderly and the disabled women make up 76% of all part-time workers and only 25%

of those are acknowledged as full-time workers. Female workers are more likely to be

full-time workers in all farm sizes in NWFP (89.54%) and Sindh (74,36%). Punjab showsan almost equal division between full-time workers (55.6%) and part-time workers, while

in Balochistan 82.84 percent of female family workers are part-time. An estimated two

million women are part of the informal urban labour force as home-based workers

(piece-rate workers, family business, self-employed entrepreneurs) and these working


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outside the house (in manufacturing, as construction workers, in domestic services, and

as vendors).

Women participation in economic productive activities in rural and urban areas, both

within and outside the house, is now an established fact. However, they face a variety of

constraints, the major ones being isolation and mobility, which prevent women's access

to information, training skills, credit and opportunities. As a result women's work

continues to be arduous and tedious and their potential productivity remains unrealized,

concurrently, their quality of life is abysmally sub-standard.


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AIM OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to analyze the present status of women in Public Service

in Pakistan the constraints being faced by the women folk while entering the public

sector of the economy and women contribution in economic development of the country.

The objectives of this Research Paper are to :-

(a) Analyze the gradual increase in tendency of female entering into public

service / education in the province.

(b) The factors helping in increasing this tendency.

(c) Observing the changing attitude of the tribal society towards female

exposure to the male dominant segment of the sector.

(d) Critically examine the obstacles to the female entry in public service andeducation in Balochistan.

Methodology

For the purpose of the study I relied on secondary data, which has bee collected from

published government documents, Internet and from other reliable sources. A course of

verbal discussion were carried out with Dr Rehmat Ibad Khan Director/Assistant

Collector, Employees Old-age Benefit Institution, Under Labour Division Govt of

Pakistan for his guidance and providing me relevant material and data on the subject.

Besides, a friend of mine provided me some printed material from the library of the

University of the Balochistan, Quetta. From the aforesaid details, I want to explain that I

adopted the historical method of research in accomplishing the task.

JUSTIFICATION

I scanned and went through several research papers, syndicate paper, term papers in

the library of the National Institute of Management, Quetta. Attempts have been

made almost on all the subjects pertaining to various facets / areas of Balochistan i.e.

agriculture, industry, health, population planning, education, water resources, drought


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etc. But no paper was ever written on the women in Public Service particularly from

Balochistan province. I thought that this study would be a challenge besides being

interesting and informative keeping in view the tribal background of the province.

However, this proved to a Herculean task and the most difficult thing I confronted with

was the paucity of time, which hampered a lot. I mean to say that for an exquisite thing

to be prepared time is the foremost requirement. Hence I decided to conduct this study

to know the latest attitude of the society mostly dominated by the tribal customs and

traditions where women folk is customarily considered inferior to men.


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IntroductionThe occupation of women in Public Service can be traced throughout the history of

mankind. The references in scriptures of different religions refer participation of women

as worker and co-worker with men at work. Even there are evidences of coordinated

work approach between Adam and Eve. The annals of history however, reveal that

working environment, nature of duties monitory returns and facilitations to women at

work have been changing from time to time and had been different from area to area. In

general, working women had been facing adverse and restricted environment with less

then compensated monitory returns.

With the advent of political awakening and the Industrial revolution in 17 th century,

particularly under the influence of liberate philosophers and proponents of social justice,

working environment for women had been gradually improving. However, this

evolutionary process had not been uniform in different areas and had been changing its

pace from one era to the other.

The life of a Pakistani woman is not easy. It is not a hidden fact that she is subjected to

discrimination and harassment, within and without the so-called sanctuary of her home.However, harassment and bullying becomes more intense and blatant when she steps

out of her home for work or education. From catcalls to verbal innuendo to physical

harassment, she has to endure it all, mostly at the hands of strangers, on the streets

and on public transport. This harassment does not stop, or rather become more

palpable in many cases, at her place of work.

What is Public Service?Public service is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its

citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of

services. The term is associated with a social consensus (usually expressed through

democratic elections) that certain services should be available to all, regardless of

income. Even where public services are neither publicly provided nor publicly financed,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Private_provision&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_consensus&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incomehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_(economics)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_sectorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Private_provision&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Social_consensus&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income


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for social and political reasons they are usually subject to regulation going beyond that

applying to most economic sectors. Public services is also a course that can be studied

at college and/or university. These courses can lead entry in to the: police, ambulance

and fire services

Participation Of Women In Public ServiceUntil modern industrialized times, legal and cultural practices, combined with the inertia

of longstanding religious and educational traditions, have restricted women's entry and

participation in the workforce. Economic dependency upon men, and consequently the

poorsocio-economic status of women have also restricted their entry into the workforce.

Particularly as occupations have become professionalized over the nineteenth and

twentieth centuries, women's meagre access to higher education has effectively

excluded them from the practice of well-paid and high status occupations. Entry of

women into the higher professions like law and medicine was delayed in most countries

due to women being denied entry to universities and qualification for degrees. For

example, Cambridge University only fully validated degrees for women late in 1947, and

even then only after much opposition and acrimonious debate. Such factors have

largely limited women to low-paid and poor status occupations for most of the 19th and

20th

centuries. However, through the twentieth century, public perceptions of paid workshifted as the workforce increasingly moved to office jobs that do not require heavy

labor, and women increasingly acquired the higher education that led to better-

compensated, longer-term careers rather than lower-skilled, shorter-term jobs.

Restrictions on women's access to participation in the workforce include the wage gap

and the glass ceiling, inequities most identified with industrialized nations with nominal

equal opportunity laws; legal and cultural restrictions on access to education and jobs,

inequities most identified with developing nations; and unequal access to capital,

variable but identified as a difficulty in both industrialized and developing nations.

The division of labor by gender has been particularly studied in women's studies

(especially women's history, which has frequently examined the history and biography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_sectorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-economic_statushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professionalizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_gaphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceilinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_opportunityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_laborhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_sectorshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-economic_statushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workforcehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professionalizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cambridge_Universityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Careerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_gaphttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_ceilinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_opportunityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_laborhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_history


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of women's participation in particular fields) and gender studies more broadly.

Occupational studies, such as the history of medicine or studies ofprofessionalization,

also examine questions of gender, and the roles of women in the history of particular

fields.

Womens participation in the service arena and politics and in the exercise of political

responsibilities should be encouraged and facilitated by action to promote awareness,

comprising civic and political education, which helps women to known their rights and to

become conscious of their capacity to have a direct hand in political life. The public

sector of government dept, Parliament, Political Parties and organizations, trade unions,

non-government organizations and the media can all contribute to this process.

Status Of Women In PakistanPakistan consists of four provinces, the Federal Capital area and the Federally

Administered Tribal Area (FATA). The overwhelming majority in Pakistan is Muslim and

the society consists of a, linguistic, ethnic and cultural diversity. Both women and men

have equal rights under the Constitution. The Fundamental Rights in the Constitution

guarantee the equality of all citizens before the law and forbids discrimination on the

basis of sex alone. However, it provides space for affirmative action by the state in the

context of women particularly in providing them with the job opportunities especially in

public sector.

Despite tall claims the status of women in Pakistan is not homogenous due to the inter-

connection of gender with other forms of exclusion in society. Unseen socio-economic

development and the impact of tribal, feudal and capitalist social practices have led to

diversity in the status of women across classes, region and the rural / urban divide.

There remains a significant dichotomy however, in the status of women in Balochistan

with that of the rest of the nation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professionalizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_medicinehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professionalization


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.


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CHAPTER - 4

4.1 POPULATION LABOUR FORCE AND EMPLOYMENTAt the time of independence in 1947, 32.5 million people lived in Pakistan. By

2006-07, the population is estimated to have reached 156.77 million. Thus in roughly

three generations, Pakistans population has increased by 124.27 million or has grown

at an average rate of 2.6 percent per annum. While Pakistan has more mouths to feed,

more families to house, more children to educate, and more people looking for gainful

employment, the high population also represents an abundance of labour, which can be

used for productive purposes.

The large population also represents a large potential market for goods and

services. This large consumer base with increasing disposable income may attract even

more foreign investment. The large population therefore represents a big opportunity for

Pakistan to benefit from demographic dividend which can fuel Pakistans growth for the

next fifty years. The interest in relationship between population change and economic

growth has reignited in Pakistan which is experiencing declining fertility and mortality

rates and therefore declining growth in population. Consequently, Pakistan is witnessing

changes in age structure with proportion of working age population increasing and

offering a life time window of opportunity to turn demographic transition into

demographic dividend.

The population profile in Pakistan reveals that in order to achieve sustainable

development and to control overpopulation, empowerment of women, effective use of

resources, efficient family planning, and popularization of small family norm are

imperative. Furthermore, slowdown in population growth rate, wider coverage of

reproductive health services, education of women, and effective steps to eradicate

poverty are prerequisites for sustainable development in Pakistan as well.


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4.2 Socio Economic Profile

Pakistani society is characterized by tremendous linguistic, ethnic and cultural

diversity. There are also considerable economic disparities between different sections of

society, as well as divisions of caste, tribe, clan and class. It is dominated by a feudaland tribal value system, with strong patriarchal trends which permeate attitudes and

behavior even where the actual social structure has changed. The overwhelming

majority in Pakistan is Muslim, but while Islam and related State policies have affected

social patterns to some extent, Pakistani society is so entrenched in culture, that

customary and traditional laws and practices usually override both statutory and Islamic

laws, which are only used selectively or adapted in accordance with cultural traditions.

Pakistans political history includes several constitutional crises, frequent periods

of political turmoil, economic instability, martial laws, wars and internal strife on

sectarian, ethnic, language and provincial autonomy issues. This has affected the

evolution of a political culture, the development of democratic norms, and respect for

human rights and the rule of law. All these social, cultural, economic and historical

factors have directly and indirectly affected the status and rights of women at every level

and in all sectors, and have negatively impacted on their integration in development or

their real participation in the processes of decision-making.

Table 1: Basic data on Pakistan

PopulationFemale Male

Level of Urbanization(As percent of

totalpopulation)

GNP per capita US $

48 : 52 32.5 500

Source:1. Population Growth and its implications, National Institute of Population studies,Islamabad.2. Provisional results of fifth population and housing census, Statistic Division, Govt ofPakistan 1998.3. Human Development Report 1999 - The Crisis of Governance


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Table 2: Participation of Women in the Labour Force

Labour Force Percentage of Women inLabour Force

Share of Income ofWomen

Urban : 12.5 million 8.4 26 percent (U/R)

Rural: 26.9 16.3Source: 1. Economic Survey 1900-20002. Human Development Report 1999 - The Crisis of Governance

The share of urban women in professional and related jobs was stated to be

about 20 percent in 1992, largely in the traditional teaching and medical professions.

They constituted 9.4 percent of production workers, only one-sixth of whom were paid

employees, while most were relegated to temporary, casual or contract work outside the

regular workforce. It was estimated that 77 percent of the economically active women in

urban areas in 1991-2 were employed in the informal sector, four fifths of whom were

home-based workers with average monthly earning of less than one-third of the factory

workers, themselves the lowest level employees in the formal sector.

4.3 Labour Force Participation Rate

In Pakistan, labour force participation is estimated on the basis of the Crude

Activity Rate (CAR) and the Refined Activity Rate (RAR). The CAR is the percentage ofthe labour force in the total population while RAR is the percentage of the labour force

in the population of persons 10 years of age and above. According to the Labour Force

Survey 2003-04 the overall labour force participation rate (CAR) is 30.41 percent (48.74

percent of males and 11.16 percent of females). CAR was 28.7 percent in 1996-97

increased to 29.4 percent in 1997-98 but later declined to 29 percent in 1999-00. It has

increased to 29.61 percent in 2001-02 and finally to 30.4 percent in 2003-04.

The labor force participation rates for women are grossly underreported by the

official sources of data. The 1997 Labour Force Survey reported the refined activity

rate2 for women as 13.6 percent and 70 percent for men, while the crude activity rate3

was 9 percent and 47 percent, respectively. This is due to problems in data collection

such as an inappropriate definition of economic activity, male enumerators who get


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information regarding working women from the male members of the family, questions

seeking information on a single main activity, and exclusion of the informal sector. In the

cultural context of Pakistan, womens wage work is considered a threat to the male ego

and identity and womens engagement in multiple home-based economic activities

leads to under remuneration for their work. Pakistani girls and women spend long hours

fetching water, doing laundry, preparing food, and carrying out agricultural duties. Not

only are these tasks physically hard and demanding, they also rob girls of the

opportunity to study.

4.4 Employment Situation

The employed labour force is defined as all persons of ten years and above who

worked at least one hour during the reference period and were either paid employees

or self-employed. Based on this definition, the total number of the employed labour

force in 2005 is estimated at 43.22 million compared to 42.24 million in 2004. The total

number of employed persons in rural areas has increased from 28.98 million in 2004 to

29.65 million in 2005. Similarly, urban employment increased from 14.69 million in 2004

to 15.03 million in 2005. The distribution of the employed labour force in urban / rural

areas from 1990-91 to 2003-05 is given in Table 1.2. The above table also reflects a

steady rise in the quantum of employment over the years for both rural and urban partsof Pakistan. In 2003-04, rural employment (1.98 million increase) has increased more

than urban employment (0.89 million). Whereas total employment has also risen

considerably from last year (0.71 million increase).

Table 1.2 : No. of Employed in comparative LFS (Million)

Year Pakistan Rural Urban Increase

1990-91 29.14 20.66 8.48 ---1991-92 30.19 21.82 8.37 1.051992-93 31.06 22.38 8.68 0.871993-94 31.83 23.42 8.41 0.771994-95 31.96 23.34 8.62 0.131996-97 34.75 24.24 10.51 2.791997-98 36.44 25.50 10.94 1.691999-00 36.72 26.08 10.64 0.28


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2001-02 38.88 26.66 12.22 2.162003-04 41.75 28.64 13.11 2.87Source: Labour Force Survey 2003-04

4.5 Employed Women

The present society of Pakistan inherited majority of trends form the Hindu

Culture, Muslim rule and Foreign Occupation. During the last 6 decades of indolence,

people of Pakistan had been able to develop their own thoughts and thus amended the

ongoing trends in all walks of life including trends for working women. Pakistan is one of

the countries in which despite a lot of improvement, much jobs is still to be done. When

planning or attempting to get the things better, there emerges another complication, the

trends and level of environmental setup very form province to province and from area to

area within the same province.

In Pakistan's economy women play an active role. But their contribution has been

grossly underreported in various censuses and surveys. Consequently, official labour

force statistics show a very minimal participation of women. For example, the 1991-92

Labour Force Survey revealed that only about 16% of women aged 10 years and over

were in the labour force and in comparison, the men's participation rate was 84%. Onthe contrary, the 1980 agricultural census showed that women's participation rate in

agriculture was 73% and that women accounted for 25% of all full-time and 75% of all

part-time workers in agricultural households. Also, the 1990-1991 Pakistan Integrated

Household Survey indicated that the female labour force participation rate was 45% in

rural areas and 17% the urban areas. Thus it is clear that if women's contribution to

economic production is assessed accurately, a conservative estimate of women's labour

force participation would be between 30% and 40% (ESCAP, 1997).

4.6 Classification of Working Women

As we have discussed in the previous paragraphs / pages, these are

innumerable professions where ladies are performing different functions, however in


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terms of interaction with public working ladies can broadly be divided into two main

groups. These groups include:-

(i) Women not in interaction with public.

(ii) Women with interaction in public.

Our present paper in not concerned with ladies of first identity. In this paper we

have to discuss ladies in interaction with public. The profession in which women / ladies

come in interaction with the public mainly include professions of teaching, civil

profession.

(i) Women in profession of teaching are usually respected and found to be

more effective and result oriented. Not only the students, but also family

members of the students respect teachers. As all families have girls thus

all families, one way or the other respect ladies in the profession of

teaching.

(ii) Women / ladies in medical profession, particularly the doctors are also

respected among masses. However, despite openings to all filed to

specialization, lady doctor prefer to go in the field of gynecology.

Nevertheless lady doctors with other specialization are also working and

holding good name.

Ladies in the professional of nursing are generally good professional however,

public opinion differ about them. Majorities of masses like and respect nursing

profession but few sections of masses generally take nurses involved in immoral

activities. Usually families, otherwise ready to send their female person at public life,

discourage their women to go in the field of nursing.

Pakistan's population was officially estimated at 131.6 million in January 1996,

comprising 47.5% women and 52.5% men. The population growth rate remains as high

as 2.8% per annum. Based on a 1993 survey, 46.1% of the population is under 15

years of age and 4.1% over 65 (EIU, 1997). According to the 1981 census, 72% of the

population lived in rural areas. A 90% of the households are headed by men and most

female-headed households belong to the poor strata of the society (ESCAP, 1997). The


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population density is 106 persons per square km (EIU, 1997). The total fertility rate was

5.4% in 1990-91.

Pakistan is an Islamic country and 97% of the

population follows Islam. The important religious minorities

are Christians, Hindus and Parsis. (ESCAP, 1997). The sex

ratio in Pakistan is such that there are 110.6 men per 100

women (1981 census). This phenomenon is attributable to

male-favoured sex ratio at birth and higher female mortality.

Further, in urban areas this sex ratio is 115.3 men to 100

women, whereas in rural areas it is 108.7 men to 100 women. Such a difference could

be attributed to a large male out-migration from rural to urban areas (ESCAP, 1997).

4.7 Education

In Pakistan, educational attainment shows poor results. Particularly the

educational status of Pakistani women is among the lowest in the world. According to

the 1981 census, the literacy rate for the population of 10 years and above is 26.2%.

However, there are distinct gender and

rural/urban differentials concealed in the literacy

rate. Women have a literacy rate of 16%, as

against 35% for men. Similarly, the literacy rate

for the urban population only is 47.1%, whereas

the literacy rate for the rural population is

17.3%. Moreover, this rural/urban differential is

more pronounced in the case of women than

men. The literacy rate for urban men (55.3%) is more than twice the rate for rural men

(26.2%). However, the literacy rate for urban women (37.3%) is more than five times the

rate for rural women (7.3%) (ESCAP, 1997). The crude activity rate (% of labor force in

total population) for women in rural areas is 10.7% and 6.3% in urban areas) and the

refined activity rate (% of labor force in population of persons having 10 years of age

and above) is for women in rural areas is 16% and 8.8% in urban areas.

Sex ratio by residence

(males/100 women)

Source: ESCAP, 1997

Literacy rate in different residence

by gender (%)

Source: ESCAP, 1997


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CHAPTER - 5

5.1 Womens Representation in Public ServiceIn order to increase womens representation in public service, the Government of

Pakistan has developed institutional arrangements at the federal and provincial levels: A

National Commission on the Status of Women was set up in 2000, with the objective of

the emancipation of women, equalization of opportunities and socioeconomic

conditions amongst women and men and elimination of all forms of discrimination

against women. The Ministry for Womens Development has taken on a more policy

oriented and advocacy role, a shift away from being project focused. A National Policyfor Development and Empowerment of Women has been in place since 2002, which

aims at gender equality and social, political and economic empowerment of women.

Womens issues are important question that concern society as a whole.

Government should thus take the necessary steps to ensure that the interests of women

are explicitly dealt with, in a permanent and thorough manner and in all areas pertaining

to government jurisdiction. It is absolutely essential that the necessary material and

human resources be earmarked for this purpose. Part of these resources should be

devoted to promoting womens to participation in civic life as an integral part of part of

the process of strengthening democracy and the Ministry of Education should specially

see to it that proper civic, political and legal education is dispensed form early

childhood.

5.2 Positive Aspects for working Women in Pakistan

The betterment of environments for working women in Pakistan is die to different

reasons. The important reasons include the following:-

(i) Innumerable openings for girls to go for formal and technical education.

This includes a large number of primary, middle and high schools for girls,


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colleges of formal education, vocational institutions and Skill Development

centers.

(ii) Increasing number of position of jobs in Government, Public and private

sector specifically for ladies. This includes jobs in the institutions precise

for girls and women, jobs for lady doctors and nurses in hospitals and

health centers and above all equal opportunities for girls in federal and

provincial competitive examinations.

(iii) Entrance and active participated of ladies in national polities. This has

been a very positive and influential factor. A large number of women have

started participating in national polities through participation in political

parties. in addition, ladies were equally allowed to compete male

candidates in national, provincial and local bodies elections along with

special seats, reserved only for women in national and provincial

legislature.

5.3 Quota Provisions to Achieve Gender Equality in Public Offices

Pakistan is a federation with four constituent provinces - Punjab, Sindh, North-

West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan including Islamabad Capital, Federally

Administered Northern Areas (FANA) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas

(FATA). Pakistan has a parliamentary system of government and Constitution provides

a power sharing formula. The federal legislature comprises the National Assembly and

Senate, referred to as the Lower and Upper Houses of Parliament respectively. Quota

provisions have been introduced as special measures to address the gender inequality

in public life at all the three levels of government national, provincial and local.

5.4 Effectiveness of Quotas

It is often argued that increased representation of women through quotas will have

direct, tangible outcomes which will be good not only for women but also for the political

system in general:

Equality between men and women will engender general social equality;


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Because women are more hard working, their increased representation will

improve the work of legislative bodies;

Because women are less corrupt their inclusion will lead to good governance;

Because women are more problem-solving in their approach to politics, their

presence in public office will reduce adversarial politics in favour of a more

inclusive approach.

In this study we examine whether these arguments are valid and hold up to scrutiny.

We then examine alternative argument that some womens groups and feminist

theorists have outlined: simply that half the population of a country can not be justifiably

excluded in a democracy. That the barriers to their participation can be both formal

(state law) and informal (social norms) reinforcing each other in gendered hierarchies

and both have to be challenged. That is, both the form of politics and its content. The

question of form includes, a) the demand to be among the decision-makers and b) the

demand for participation and a share in control over public affairs. In terms of content, it

includes being able to articulate the needs, wishes and demands of various groups of

women.

While quotas are an important strategy for addressing the gender imbalance inpublic offices, other enabling measures also need to be taken in order to encourage

women to access and participate in public life and to continue to work in it for the long

term. This can only happen when strategies address both, issues of recognition of

different status of women and men in Pakistani society and that of redistribution of

material and cultural resources so that women are able to secure the foundations of

their choice to enter public life.

Understanding quotas in context is thus to explore the political, economic and

social landscape within which they unfold. Without the understanding of these contexts,

quotas can only be focused on increasing numbers. Going beyond numbers requires a

more nuanced and context specific approach.


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Before we examine the current quota policies and their impact, we outline the

evolution of this policy to indicate that although this policy has gained international

prominence fairly recently, a quota policy has been a long standing strategy to address

gender inequality in Pakistan.

5.5 Gender Reform Action Plan

The only policy on gender equality in public office is the Gender Reform Action

Plan (GRAP), which was perceived as a project and still is. It is housed in the Women

Development Department and was funded by the Asian Development Bank. Gender

Reform Action Plan is a part of Decentralization Support Programme (DSP) and targets

to reverse gender gaps in policy and power at a structural level. It is a comprehensive

and radical policy reform that seeks to remove distortions in public life. GRAP promotes

four central policy reform areas in gender and governance:

Improved women's representation and participation in political and

administrative structures.

A policy shift from social welfare to social development, and from women's

development to gender equality.

Restructuring of institutions and procedures dealing with gender and social

development issues including the MOWD, NCSW and WDDs.

Planning and budgetary processes that narrow the gender gap in public

expenditure and service provision

There are four independent GRAPs in each of the provinces, and a National

GRAP that oversees the working of the rest.

Amendment in governments rules of business at all levels incorporating quota

regimes. Strengthening of Ministry of womens Development, gender focal points in key

ministries.

5.6 Policy And Fiscal Reforms

While the aspirations of the Plan are laudable, its implementation depends on

stakeholders taking ownership of the Plan. In our fieldwork we noted that Local


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Government Secretaries had a vague knowledge of the plan, but Additional Secretaries

were ignorant on the issue. Some of the issues raised in our interviews about GRAP are

as follows: GRAP was a huge and ambitious project. Asian Development people gave

the technical assistance but now it may run into implementation problems. The capital

cost was to be borne by the donors but the government had to do the recurrent costs,

and there is a fear the financial resources may not be committed by the already

financially stretched provincial governments. Currently the work is going on to change

the rules of business, and changing nomenclatures etc. There is a provision for Gender

Resource Centres in the federal GRAP money. But there is concern whether these

measures might not be cosmetic. The elected representatives generally did not have a

fair idea of what GRAP was. In addition, women parliamentarians did not have a clear

idea of the Gender Reform Action Plan, which would lead to issues of ownership of the

Plan.

5.7 Quota Provisions

As noted above, quotas have become a key strategy for increasing womens

participation in Public Service. By examining womens representation in public offices

we can explore the following:

Strategies that women employ to access the public sphere in the context of apatriarchal socio-political system. These women have been successful in

subverting the boundaries of gender, and in operating in a very aggressive

male dominated sphere. Could other women learn from this cohort?

The role that the State can play in increasing womens representation

through both direct quotas and indirect supporting shifts in public

discourse measures.

The impact of greater womens presence in challenging and shifting gender

hierarchies whether an increase in numerical presence results in a

substantive presence. Under the Conduct of General Elections Order 2002,

(Chief Executives Order No. 7 of 2002) the number of seats in the Senate,

National Assembly of Pakistan and the Provincial Assemblies of Punjab,


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Sindh, NWFP and Balochistan was increased, considerably improving the

number of women in political institutions at the provincial and national levels.

Although under the National Plan of Action there was a quota of 5% within all

occupational groups and grades of public services, the Commission suggested

enhancing this further by: 10% in all sectors and grades 15% in BPS-19 and above

15% in key policy bodies, including autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, advisory

boards, banking institutions etc.. The Commissions conclusions highlighted extensive

systemic discrimination faced by women in recruitment, transfers, promotions and

institutional support. As the table below shows, despite the outlining of the governments

commitment to address this issue in the National Plan of Action the percentage of

female employees in Federal employment is extremely small.

Given the security of jobs, the possibility of monitoring employment conditions and

the cultural predisposition of families towards government jobs, these figures show little

progress for women in this key area of employment. A key finding of our fieldwork

towards writing this Report was the inadequacy of transport, child care and washroom

facilities for women, making the daily work environment a struggle for them. Our studies

in this regard support the Reports findings.

Source: The National Commission on the Status of Women, 2003

CHAPTER

5.8 Situation in Balochistan

Senior bureaucrats in local government in Balochistan, in the planning and

development divisions and even senior women bureaucrats argued that women were

simply not available for the positions that were advertised. The perception was that

women did not come up for interviews, that they did not show up and finally that they

simply were not available for the jobs that were being advertised. However, the

Balochistan Public Service Commission figures explode this myth with the figures of the

women who appeared in various tests in the past six years. Out of 2779 posts

advertised, 8613 women had applied, four times the number, even in the province


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where womens literacy in rural areas is as low as 11%. The other perception was that

women prefer to be in health and education, where the conditions were favorable for

women in terms of postings, and holidays, etc. However, it is quite clear from the data of

the Balochistan Public Service Commission that most of the recruitment that is carried

out with respect to women is only in education, health and population departments. Only

3 position out of a total of 2779 positions advertised, had openings for women outside

these three womens departments. So, it is not that these positions are liked, but that

they are available for women officers. The need for a quota for women in the

bureaucracy at all levels and in all departments especially in the top echelons of the

service is critical.

Ta

Basic Pay Scale %age of female employeesAll scales (BPS 1-22) 5.4

Officers Category (16-22) 8.7

Other Category (1-15) 4.9

TO ACHIEVE GENDER EQUALITY IN PUBLIC OFFICE

Studying quotas in political institutions in context helps us recognize the

importance of civil service reform. Without a significant increase in the number of

women in public services the effectiveness of quotas for women in legislative institutions

suffers women we interviewed often complained of government offices being hostile

territory for them. Civil service reform is therefore necessary for the full realization of

both devolution and poverty reduction, as well as to achieve a more focused, results

and performance oriented, demand driven, transparent and accountable public

administration that is more responsive to the citizenry. Despite several initiatives to

improve the presence of women in public life, the most successful measures have been

at the level of local government with 33% quotas for women, with the parliamentary and

provincial quotas following. There is still a long way to go before gender equality can be


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achieved in the bureaucracy and political parties. Given the fact that political parties do

not have a quota system and that gender imbalance there is significant, it seems that

quotas remain a key strategy to achieve gender equality in public life.

5.9 Women in Public service in Balochistan:

The moment the provinces of North Western Frontier Province and Balochistan

comes to the mind, one immediately thinks of pro-Taliban and pro-Al Qaeda forces,

rugged geographical terrain, religious fundamentalism, suppressive patriarchal society,

which in some ways reflects total anarchy. The rise and empowerment of the women of

Balochistan has undermined as well as challenged the denominator that usually

characterizes the position of women in a society. They remain to be extremely poor,

illiterate and bound by traditional norms of a tribal society that remains to be patriarchal

in nature, but they still play an influential role in determining the future of the province.

Educational institutions remain to be principal agents of political socialization and

awareness, and the first womens university, the Sardar Bahadur Khan Womens

University in Quetta, remains to be a step forward for strengthening a portion of the

Balochi tribal women community who has been deprived of the fruits of modernization

and development. According to a World Bank Report, only 15 percent of women in

Balochistan, the largest but least populated province of Pakistan, have attended school.

Though the quality and standard of education for women remains to be very poor in the

province, but there has been an initiation of improvement in that aspect. However,

according to data collected from Directorate of Education, and Bureau of Statistics P&D

Govt of Balochistan, total number of women engaged in major Public Service i.e.

education sector are 543 lecturers, 12920 are employed in various Govt Schools in

various positions. Similarly the number of lady doctors is 383, nurses 486 LHVs 556 and

Midwives 1345. While a good number of women are engaged in various NGOs

however, the exact data could not be obtained.


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CHAPTER - 6

6.1 Challenges for Women in Public Service

It has been observed in chapter 5 that despite an increasing rhetorical

acceptance of quotas for women in public life, the effectiveness of quota based

representative institutions and politics is not yet very high. In the last chapter we

outlined three areas within which quotas need to be contextualized economic, political

and cultural if women are to take up leadership roles in Pakistani public life. Based on

our research, in this section we set out the socio-economic and political challenges

facing women who access public life with the support of quotas. The research findings

support our hypothesis that gaining political equality for women is critical for theeffectiveness of measures that seek to achieve gender balance in public life.

6.2 Lack of Access to and Transformation of Public Space

Lack of access to public spaces is one of the key impediments faced by many

women public servants; public offices remain alien environments. This, of course also

reinforces the need for womens presence in large numbers in public offices so that a

transformation of public space can take place. This inaccessibility affects their work, andtheir ability to solve problems and to deliver services to their constituents. Only those

women who had overcome their inhibitions and did enter public spaces were confident

about their roles as problem solvers. In rural and semi-urban districts, such women

remain a minority. Women politicians who step out into the male space feel there are

clear problems of access to the male electorate. There is only a slight difference a

problem of interaction with colleagues. Men can do those at all levels, backslapping

clubbing behavior. But we are excluded from that. That, she argues, makes a problem

at decision-making levels. In the constituency as well, there is a slight problem of

access and women can not be as accessible as a man can be, even though the

conditions have improved.


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6.3 Continued Gender Segregation and Subordination

Continued gender segregation and subordination challenges women who are able to

access public office. In the case of women councilors, nearly all were persuaded by

their male relatives or other influential men of the community to put their names forward

for election. As a result, they continue to confront the traditional mind-set where their

male colleagues reject them as equal partners in politics. They are seen as representing

only women and they are given the responsibility related to gender specific project and

programs. There are frequent complaints by women councilors that they do not receive

invitation to the council meetings. They are not consulted in development planning at

the district and union council levels. Women from the district councils are not given

equal share of development fund as they are perceived to have no direct constituency.

The findings of the study showed that 50% of the women councilors attended only one

meeting where the election of chairman took place. Afterwards, if there was any matter

in which their presence was required papers were sent to their houses for their

signature or thumb impression.

6.4 Ideologies of Honour and Shame

One out of the four women government officials interviewed reported sexual

harassment. The cultural ideology of hiya or shame was raised by the male councilorsas a factor that inhibited womens participation in the public space, as it inhibited their

movements and their voice. Sexual harassment often took the form of male gossip

against women in public life. Councilors in Balochistan, like Farida Kakar, talked about

how people talked behind her back. Her being single also made it a big problem, as it

gives more room for gossip to people. They say Jawan behan ko chor diya hai. Ghar

main nahin rehti (He has left his young sister; she doesnt stay at home). I am sensitive

so I go down for a day, and then come out again. The DCO Quetta spoke of historical

reversal, where from a liberal face, the society became conservative, an era especially

attributed to General Zias Islamisation of society. When I was a boy, there were co-

educational schools. In Quetta there were hotels in which girls from good families used

to come in the evening and take dinner. There was a liberal atmosphere. The culture of

Baloch and Pakhtoon is liberal. Now a reversal of trends has taken place and the


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conservatism of Zia rule has taken hold in the society. Co-ed institutions are finished.

Girls and boys are segregated.83 He forwarded a culture change argument saying that

until and unless the culture of conservatism does not change, womens presence in the

public spaces and offices will not be a reality.

6.5 Equal Opportunity Policies

Recruitment and Promotion of women Increasing womens employment must be

the key element in the governments approach to achieving gender equality in public

life. As we have seen, there is particular need to address the issue of womens

employment in public service over which the government has direct control. In both

public service and political life, we have seen that women often do not get the support of

senior officers in promotion. They have to routinely work harder than men in order to

gain the respect of their colleagues and make a case for their promotion. Attention

should be given to the gender balance of recruitment panels, as well as gender training

of those serving on these. Due process must be adhered to when making appointments.

Recruiting more women should be accompanied by gender sensitive career

management programmes throughout government services. The social infrastructure

needs to be improved together with emphasis on recruiting women, in particular by

improving training, sanitary and childcare facilities.

Equal opportunity policies for recruitment and promotion should be clearly set

out, monitored and implemented rigorously. Reporting mechanisms to ensure that equal

opportunity policies are being implemented should be strengthened. The flouting of

equal opportunity policies should not be tolerated and measures to address this must be

implemented. The Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) should oversee these

measures. However, this can only happen if the FPSC is itself gender sensitized

through a thoroughgoing gender mainstreaming training programme.

6.6 Work and Womens EmpowermentThe division of a family's joint benefits is likely to be less unfavorable to women if:

they can earn an outside income;


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their work is recognized as productive (this is easier to achieve with work

done outside the home);

they own some economic resources and have some rights to fall back on; and

there is a clear-headed understanding of the ways in which women are

deprived and a recognition of the possibilities of changing this situation.

This last category can be much influenced by education for women and by

participatory political action. Considerable empirical evidence, mostly studies of

particular localities, suggests that what is usually defined as "gainful" employment (i.e.,

working outside the home for a wage, or in such "productive" occupations as farming),

as opposed to unpaid and unhonored houseworkno matter how demandingcan

substantially enhance the deal that women get.

Source: Amartya Sen, More Than 100 Million Women

Are Missing The New York Review of Books, Volume

37, Number 20; ucatlas.ucsc.edu/contents, December

20, 1990

6.7 Ensuring Joined Up Thinking On Gender MainstreamingThe various government departments need to work together in cross-cutting

ways to ensure that gender mainstreaming takes place across issue fields, policy

frameworks, and implementation strategies. Parallel, disjointed work duplicates efforts,

treats womens issues as add-ons and restricts the remit of gender mainstreaming.

6.8 Womens Protection Act

After a long consultative process with all stakeholders, Pakistan's National

Assembly and Senate approved in November 2006 amendments to a controversial rape

law. The new law makes a distinction between Zina (i.e. sex outside of marriage) and

rape. Rape is no longer covered under the Hudood Ordinance and is tried under the

normal PPC law. In addition, the new procedural changes require that anyone accusing

a person of committing Zina would also need to provide four witnesses. False witnesses


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would be automatically tried for Qazf, without the victim needing to file a separate case.

Furthermore, Zina is now a bail able offence where bail can not be refused. However, a

controversial clause has 496-B has been added in PPC under which consensual non-

marital sex (Zina) has been made punishable by five years in prison or a 10,000 rupees

(US$165, euro129) fine. Under the Hudood Ordinance, Zina and rape would be treated

similarly and rape victims could only raise a case under the Hudood Laws, which

required testimony from four witnesses to the crime.

Source : Women Protection Act, 2006

6.9 Role of NGOs

It will be fruitless to think that the issue of overpopulation can be laid to rest

without the help and support of the private sector. In this regard the non-governmental

organizations (NGOs) play an important role. Realizing this the government highly

encourages and supports endeavors undertaken by various NGOs for undertaking

innovative and cost-effective service delivery and awareness campaigns to cover

specific urban and semi-urban areas like slums, katchi-abadis and labour colonies.

There is a strong tradition in Pakistan of local NGOs being engaged in social and

economic issues, from land reform to the rights of women to economic development.Many of these groups, though small in resources and staff by international standards,

nevertheless have significant experience and capacity in program implementation,

monitoring, and training at the local level. While the relationship with the Government of

Pakistan and local NGOs has been strained at times, there is a functional foundation

and history to build upon. The fact that the local NGOs have in the past confronted and

challenged the government is in keeping with their role as local organizations engaged

in promoting change, and they should remain strong in this key role. Their demonstrated

willingness to confront and challenge the government on behalf of those for whom they

advocate makes them uniquely qualified to give voice to the needs of destitute women.

For the first time in Pakistan civil society organizations have initiated a collective

campaign for women representation and training in local government. The initiative was


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started by the Aurat Foundation and later joined by Muthida Labor Federation, SAP-PK,

SAVERA, PILER, Sungi Development Foundation, Khwendo Kor, HRMDC, SBRC,

Pakistan NGO Federation along with four provincial coalitions and lot of other

organizations. The campaign is called the Citizens Campaign for Womens

Representation in Local Government. This campaign has great potential to improve

the representation of women in local government. The first stage will be to mobilize

women to stand as candidates for the reserved seats at the union Council level and

ensure that there is local support for them. At the same time there will be a need to build

an environment in the constituency, which is not hostile but actually supportive for

women to play their role as candidates and representatives of the people. This will need

to be combined with some political orientation for the candidates for them to participate

in the electoral process with some knowledge.


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CHAPTER - 7

7.1 ISSUESIn the light of above discussion it can be deduced that major associated with

women in public service are associated with contrasting and antagonistic tendencies

compounded with parochial thought of men and also of the women. The major issues in

connection with women in public services include parochial thought against women

working in public service which are as under:

Lack of sufficient safety measures for women coming to public life.

Lack of jobs opportunities in public and private sector establishment.

General gender sensitization.

General feelings of fear from the public behaviour.

Discouraging attitude of family members.

Fear of transfer to outside places other than hometown.

General trend of low salaries as compared to male.

Domestic responsibilities which leave no time for women to work.

Four important challenges confronted women in Pakistan in the early 1990s:

increasing practical literacy,

gaining access to employment opportunities at all levels in the economy,

promoting change in the perception of women's roles and status, and

gaining a public voice both within and outside of the political process.

.

The matter of fact is that most women in Pakistan brave into men-dominated

workplaces out of economic necessity, rather than to fulfill career aspirations. The

position of women in workplace in Europe, North American and even South East Asia

has become entrenched; still it is not odd to come across a public service

announcement to press the message on the issue. Such public service announcements


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are even more necessary in a society like Pakistan where we lag behind even

comparable countries in accepting the role of women at work.

There have been various attempts at social and legal reform aimed at improving

Muslim women's lives in the subcontinent during the twentieth century. These attempts

generally have been related to two broader, intertwined movements: the social reform

movement in British India and the growing Muslim nationalist movement. Since partition,

the changing status of women in Pakistan largely has been linked with discourse about

the role of Islam in a modern state. This debate concerns the extent to which civil rights

common in most Western democracies are appropriate in an Islamic society and the

way these rights should be reconciled with Islamic family law.

Promoting the education of women was a first step in moving beyond the

constraints imposed bypurdah. The nationalist struggle helped fray the threads in that

socially imposed curtain. Simultaneously, women's roles were questioned, and their

empowerment was linked to the larger issues of nationalism and independence. In 1937

the Muslim Personal Law restored rights (such as inheritance of property) that had been

lost by women under the Anglicization of certain civil laws. As independence neared, it

appeared that the state would give priority to empowering women. Pakistan's founding

father, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, said in a speech in 1944:

No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side

with you; we are victims of evil customs. It is a crime against humanity that our women

are shut up within the four walls of the houses as prisoners. There is no sanction

anywhere for the deplorable condition in which our women have to live.

Another of the challenges faced by Pakistani women concerns their integration

into the labor force. Because of economic pressures and the dissolution of extended

families in urban areas, many more women are working for wages than in the past. But

by 1990 females officially made up only 13 percent of the labor force. Restrictions on

their mobility limit their opportunities, and traditional notions of propriety lead families to

conceal the extent of work performed by women.


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Usually, only the poorest women engage in work--often as midwives, sweepers,

or nannies--for compensation outside the home. More often, poor urban women remain

at home and sell manufactured goods to a middleman for compensation. More and

more urban women have engaged in such activities during the 1990s, although to avoid

being shamed few families willingly admit that women contribute to the family

economically. Hence, there is little information about the work, women do. On the basis

of the predominant fiction that most women do no work other than their domestic

chores, the government has been hesitant to adopt overt policies to increase women's

employment options and to provide legal support for women's labor force participation.

Principal Officerat U.S Consulate Peshawar, Lynne Tracy while encouraging

female varsity students to go for public service has said that they have to actively

pursue their professional dreams and to consider public service as a way to serve their

communities and their respective country. She expressed these views during a lecture

on "A History of Women in the U.S Foreign Service" delivered at Lincoln Corner in the

Central Library of the Peshawar University. The lecture was organized as part of the

U.S Consulate's celebration of Women's History Month and attended by around 100

students from various departments of the university. "American women have made

great strides in many field over the past century, including diplomacy", stated Ms. Tracy.

"Just thirty-seven years ago, American women had to resign from the Foreign Service in

order to get married. Today, Secretaries Albright and Rice have proven that women can

serve effectively as America's top diplomats", she observed. She further informed that

America's first female diplomats joined the Diplomatic Service in the 1920s. Until 1970,

women Foreign Service Officer needed to resign their commission in order to get

married. Such restrictions no longer apply and in 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine

Albright became the first woman to lead the Department of State. Women have served

as U.S ambassadors throughout the world and two, Nancy Powell and Wendy

Chamberlain have served as U.S Ambassador to Pakistan, she went on to say.

Speaking on the occasion Vice Chancellor University of Peshawar Professor Dr. Haroon

Rashid welcomed Ms. Lynne Tracy to the University and said that Pakistani women


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have also contributed a lot in various fields of life and proved their mettle by serving the

nation in credible way. About the varsity education, the Vice Chancellor was of the view

that university does not mean walls and rooms but such institutions should inculcate

inquisitive minds. He added that Lincoln Corner at the University of Peshawar was a

window to the whole world and it was a place where one can look at things from all

sides and directions. One of the main objectives of the varsity, he said was to provide

skilled leadership to the society and the goal of this institution was to love and serve,

entire creation of the Creator, he further informed and concluded.

While the government had, as outlined above, responded to the demands made

by the Pakistani womens movements and international commitments towards gender

equality through the National Plan for Women and other measures, the lack of

importance given to gender mainstreaming and to issues of governance as part of these

strategies meant that the severe pressures of the economy on gendered inequality were

not mediated by these plans. As the MDG Report of Pakistan notes, The objective of

mainstreaming gender concerns into the overall planning, implementation and sectoral

programming framework for improving womens status continues to be a major national

challenge.

Women are more adversely affected by the incidence of poverty on account of

their weak position, weak educational background, low participation in economic activity

and inequitable access to productive resources. The situation of rural women in

Pakistan is worse than that of their urban counterparts15. Under pressure from

international financial institutions as well as from political unrest in the country, a wide-

ranging programme of economic reform was initiated at the start of the new millennium.

7.2 The Constraints Encountered by Women

In Pakistan, as in many other developing countries, women are handicapped in

society. Therefore they face many challenges, as they do not enjoy the same

opportunities as men. The segregation of the sexes starts early and becomes a way of


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life. They are not only deprived of financial resources but also lack access to basic

needs such as education, health, clean drinking water and proper sanitation. Limited

access to the essentials of life undermines their capabilities, limits their ability to secure

gainful employment, and results in income, poverty and social exclusion. Their

ambitions and aspirations are suppressed.

Nurturing an individual's, natural spirit of entrepreneurship is a powerful key to

economic development. Therefore realizing the vast potential that women entrepreneurs

posses and translating this potential into profits is imperative. Supporting businesses

with strong associations can strengthen the structural adjustment reforms that are part

of the current international wave of decentralization, which is grounded in the belief that

promoting private businesses is key to growth.


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CHAPTER - 8

8.1 RECOMMENDATIONS

In the backdrop of the deliberations and ground realities and impediments which

have been discussed in the previous pages that hinder women in coming forward to join

the Public Service, following recommendations are suggested:

There should be coordinated efforts for improvement of literacy ratio among the

masses, particularly in the rural areas.

There should be a general, compressive and wide spread campaign to enlighten

the people about benefits of working ladies.

The government should make serious efforts for improvement and growth ofcottage industry in the rural areas.

Special technical centers, with multiple choice of skills, trades and arts should be

established in the urban and particularly in the rural areas so that ladies in the

villages may really go to actual jobs.

The cottage industry and other small industry units should be designed on the

basics of every specific area developed area to study so that local sources may

be explored and utilized.

Ladies should not only be given better protection measures.

The government efforts should made in a way that the ladies feel a real sense of

protection.

With respect to the male dominated society, special attention should be made to get

the dominant segment of the society to widen their vision and change their attitude so

that they permit their ladies to go for work in the public sector. The tendency of

presenting women as a showpiece, just in order to get better clientage and business

should be stopped. The ladies should be given real jobs instead of putting them on

receptions or appointing them as telephone operators / attendants. The curriculum

should not reinforce womens domestic role only. Politics, economics, Physics,

chemistry etc, may not be considered unnecessary for the women. Womens


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importance may not be confined to the lower of employment e.g. teachers, LHVs, Office

secretaries etc. When we look at the different development process, it comes out from

that women are given less preference in professional and technical trainings. This

aspect must be covered in the policy by providing technical education institutions

especially for women in Balochistan.

In brief, educational policy may not banned women to the restrictions of a wife or

a mother only. Formal education not only enable a person to bring about economic

changes in the society, but it also positively effects his / her values, norms, attitudes,

ideas and aspirations which ultimately pave the road to development. Education policies

should not be taken to economic objectives but should also be taken into consideration

of social development. The gainful employment must be provided to women in the

province once they have been educated. When the employment is not going to

available, their education trend is depressed. However, when hopes of employment are

high for the women, then she will also gain the support of her parents. Merit must be

followed strictly in the selection of jobs against various vacancies reserved for women.

Last, but not the least, performance and only performance must be the criteria for

transfers and postings of female teachers and lectures.

8.2 CONCLUSION

The primary objective of this paper is to examine the overall position of women in

decision-making roles. The aim is to provide an in depth analysis of the way society

regards and values the contribution of women who choose to be parliamentarians. Most

importantly, the barriers that women encounter were examined as well as ways to

remove them suggested. Women comprise half of our population and are active

participants in the public sector and the statistics indicate that, women in the country are

not seen as effective decision-makers. Thus it is critical that men realize their moral

obligation to open up the institutions of the state and encourage more women to

become active participants in the development process.


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It is imperative that women be appointed to positions in government where they

are noticed and appear in numbers beyond what may be regarded as tokenistic. That is,

when only one or two women are appointed to Cabinet and who have the customary

duty of taking on womens affairs such as education and welfare issues. Although the

importance of these issues must not be undermined, it is important that women start to

appear more frequently discussing issues such as the economy, our current financial

deficit, national defense and foreign affairs issues. Society must be sensitized to realize

the barriers that women face, not only in politics, but also in every day life. Education

material are an important factor here and we must ensure that such material promote an

appropriate image of men / women. Our children must also made to realize that gender

doe not determine a persons capability to take on a specific job.

Where it is appropriate, Government must also consider institutional and legal

reform to facilitate the more equal representation of women in public sector. These is a

need to consider changes to the layout of Parliament to reduce confrontational politics

and to facilitate a more detailed technical and non-adversarial legislation. Women

entering services should be assured that they will not have to encounter discrimination

from society and from within their own society. Also, without spousal support, women

will not pursue their own individual interests and and time consuming, many women will

sacrifice their own personal fulfillment for the good of the family.


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UNDP, 1997. Human Development Report, Oxford University Press, New York.


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