Empowering women: Punjab government to allocate Rs 1 billion in budget for loan disbursement

With a view to empowering women, the PML-N led Punjab government is going to allocate an additional amount of rupees one billion in the Punjab budget for the year 2012-13 for disbursement of loans through NGO-Akhuwat. With this proposed additional allocation, the government was going to set a target to support at least 35-percent women out of its total beneficiaries, sources told Business Recorder.
According to them, the government has planned to earmark at least 70-percent of jobs for women in primary education. About 60-percent of the funds out of Punjab Education Sector Reforms Programme will be earmarked for the provision of missing facilities for girls' schools in the ADP for 2012-13.
The sources further claimed that the provincial government was also going to set up 'women crises & rehabilitation centres' at district level to provide legal, psychological and basic health referral services under the supervision of DCOs. PML-N Leader Mohammad Parvez Malik said that Punjab Chief Minister had already taken initiatives for bringing women into national mainstream. A comprehensive "Women Empowerment Package 2012" had already been announced to safeguard social, economic and legal rights of women as well as their empowerment. Under this package several steps are being taken to ensure economic empowerment of women in true sense.
According to him, the provincial government had already withdrawn the condition of submitting application for the transfer and division of joint land in rural areas among the legal heirs and the revenue officers are duty bound to initiate the process of transfer of land at the death of its owner without waiting for the application and also complete the process of division of land so that all legal heirs including women are granted their due legal share.
Similarly, in order to check forgery for depriving women of their share in inherited property, production of 'B' form of all legal heirs is being made compulsory. The PML-N leader said that day care centres were being established on emergent basis in all educational and government institutions so that married women could leave their young children safely in those centres and perform their duties with a peace of mind. He said that a special fund of two billion rupees was being set up through Punjab Bank for the economic self-reliance of women, which would be offered on soft terms for business from this fund.
He said that women should play their due role for bringing a positive change in the country so as to eliminate exploitation from the country and ensure equal opportunities to all citizens including women in the process of national development. He added that the goal of rapid progress and prosperity of the country could be achieved through women empowerment.