Punjab government has earmarked Rs 629 million in the Development Programme 2016-17 for women development sector. Major part of the proposed allocation for 2016-17 will be utilized to increase awareness among women in Punjab about their rights and available opportunities announced by the Punjab government under Women Empowerment Initiatives of 2012, 2014 and 2016, to develop a model for sustainable development of Working Women Hostels and rehabilitation of existing Working Women Hostels.
According to the budget documents in the Annual Development Programme 2016-2017 Punjab government has earmarked an amount of Rs 100 million for development programme of Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW). The new initiatives which will be implemented during 2016-17 are: Development of Model for sustainable development of Working Women Hostels, Rehabilitation of existing Working Women Hostels, Domestic Workers' Training Programme, Support for Working Women Hostels and Women Development Fund.
A dedicated Domestic Worker Training Programme will also be undertaken during 2016-17 with the aim to provide better employment opportunities to the home based workers and to meet the needs of working women in the form of trained domestic workers. An amount of Rs 295 million has been earmarked under Women Development Fund for provision of women specific facilities like washrooms, waiting areas, etc at public places and government offices envisaged under Women Empowerment Initiatives, 2016.
In ADP 2015-16, an amount of Rs 500 million was allocated for the women development sector and the major achievements of the department during the FY 2015-16 includes Toll Free Women's Helpline, Research Report on Situation Analysis of women employment in private sector, launching of Punjab Women Empowerment Initiatives, 2016 and Gender Parity Report, 2016. The Women Development Department was established on March 08, 2012 (International Women's Day) to materialize the goal of women's empowerment and to implement the pragmatic vision of Quaid-e-Azam ie "Make female substantive segment of society to play vital role in the economic uplift of the society".
The department not only ensures the practical interpretation of safeguarding women's rights within the constitutional and legal framework, but also promotes gender mainstreaming in all sectors of the economy. Recently, a post of DIG Women Protection has been created to supervise the working of police officers posted at Violence against Women Centres (VAWCs) in Punjab.
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