Media coordinator to the President, Naveed Chaudhry, said that the government honors rights of minorities and women.
Talking to reporters, he said “The National Assembly passed the National Commission for Human Rights 2011 amendment bill which provides for the establishment of a National Commission for Human Rights, reservation of four seats for minorities in the Senate and work on ‘Minorities Protection Bill’ to protect the Personal Laws of Minorities including legislation on Hindu, Sikh, Zoroastrian and Bahai Marriage Acts were among important initiatives of the government. The government has earmarked a quota of 5 percent for minorities in federal services and enhanced the grants for minority welfare projects by Rs 147 million. “
“Besides giving a significant role to women in key policy decisions, economic empowerment projects are part of the government’s efforts to create income-generating activities for marginalised women. High representation of women parliamentarians who represent 17 percent of Upper House and 22.7 percent of Lower House reflects the PPP policy,” he said.
Opposttion Leader in Punjab Assembly, Raja Riaz, said the parliament has made significant inroads in enacting laws for the protection of women. He added that the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2010, Law for Protection of Women against Harassment at the Workplace Act 2010, Criminal Procedure Act and Pakistan Penal Code were amended to give teeth to the Harassment Act. He said that prevention of Domestic Violence against Women is a feather in the cap of PPP government.