The fate of over 100 employees of the ‘Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Centre for Women Project’ is hanging in balance due to a conflict between the federal government and Punjab government, which has refused to own the project after the centre devolved it to the provinces. The Ministry of Women Development had transferred the project to the Punjab government under the devolution plan. In response, the Punjab government told the federal government to decide the project’s fate and handle its liabilities at its own level.
The conflict of interests is evident from the contents of a letter written by an official of the Punjab Social Welfare, Women’s Development and Baitul Maal department expressing the provincial government’s inability to take over the project because of the fact that its Dar-ul-Aman (women’s shelters) had similar objectives and were already working in every district of the province.
