Panel concerned over meagre FPSDP allocation for women
The committee stressed for enhancement of the allocation which was crucial for gender mainstreaming. It also underlined the need for ensuring that 10 percent of the quota reserved for women is met.
The committee met under the chairpersonship of Dr Nafeesa Shah, MNA in the Parliament House to discuss the issues underlining the women participation in national development apart from financial inclusion, access to justice, health and education.
It was apprised by the Planning and Development Ministry that out of PSDP amount of Rs3.6 trillion, only Rs48 billion were allocated for gender based projects across 2020-25. The Chief Gender Unit of the ministry further informed that the key findings of the gender analysis of yesteryears transpired that annual gender based allocations were constant between 1.3 to 1.5 percent peaking at 2.5 percent in 2023-24 and dropping to 0.7 percent in 2024-25.
She said that the ministry had made strides in promoting gender equality and mainstreaming gender consideration across its operations and development initiatives; however, more needed to be done. She informed that a comprehensive Gender Action Plan had been developed in collaboration with UN Women, Gender Checklist had been developed for PSDP projects besides conducting a Gender review of the PSDP 2020-2025. She assured that a comprehensive report on Gender review would be shared with the Committee.
The committee directed Planning Ministry to present a way forward to close the gender gap. The committee also expressed its concern on the inadequate budget for primary education and healthcare. The committee also expressed its concern on the failure to address gender violence. The committee strongly urged that projects focused on women empowerment may be included for women financial inclusion, women health and legal empowerment.
While taking up the agenda regarding effective implementation of the women's employment quota in federal government, the chair opined that the number of women in federal jobs was not encouraging. She said that the present female representation in federal jobs was 5.26 percent of the total workforce which was a significant gap which needed to be looked into seriously.
The Members of the Committee also expressed their reservation on special initiatives taken by the Establishment Division for women and termed them a special dispensation for all.
They called for giving special preference to women to meet the meet the shortfall.
The special secretary Establishment Division apprised that there was a significant gap due to underlined issues; however, there was an upward trajectory when compared with previous years. He said that special initiatives had been taken up for instance conducting special CSS exams for filling in vacant seats reserved for women, minorities and underserved areas, giving the 4th chance, age exemption for up to 35 years. He further apprised that province had been asked to prioritise the issue and share their strategy to ensure meeting of 10 percent quota reserved for women.
The committee after briefing by SMEDA was of the view that for making financial inclusion of women meaningful, SMEDA should adopt a whole of Pakistan approach instead of piecemeal or selective interventions. It also stressed for a more coordinated approach between State Bank of Pakistan, SMEDA, Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the aspiring women entrepreneurs for ensuring access to financial empowerment.
The committee also directed for sharing national draft of the Women Entrepreneurship Policy with the committee for its input. The committee, appreciating the initiatives by Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) for financial inclusion of women, decided to have a follow-up meeting on the same issue.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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