Federal Minister for Women Development Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Sunday said that bill will soon be present in the parliament to protect the rights of "Home Based Workers" in the country. The Labour Ministry was working on the proposed bill and after assessing pros and cons the Women Ministry for Women Development would table the in the parliament she said.
Addressing an Experience Sharing meeting on Integrated Support Programme to Home Based Workers in Sialkot district held in collaboration with International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Women and Baidarie here she said that the proposed bill would ensure not only the rights but it will also open the ways of registration of home based workers.
The government was making utilising all channels and modes for ensuring women economic empowerment in the country, she said. In order to ensure women economic empowerment ILO had already initiated initial work in Sialkot, Kusar, Faisalabad, Hyderabad and Umer Kot and assessing the achievements of the project the same programme would be replicated in other parts of the country, she revealed.
The concept of this programme was to further improve economic conditions of women workers, she added. Dr Firdous Awan further said that plan was also under actively under consideration for providing pick and drop facility to the women workers engaged with the industrial sector. The Federal Minister further stated that it is high time that powerful forces should change their mindset because the game of might is right was breathing it's lost.
It is very unfortunate that minorities and women folk were being treated as weak segment of the society and political forces and influential people were trying to grab their rights by strangulating their vices, she said. The Minister disclosed that 2011 is very important for the home based workers because government was going take drastic steps for the protection of their rights under legal cover.