Speakers Opines No Development In Thar Without Women's Prosperity

The speakers at a Women's Day celebration event have agreed that a prosperous Tharparkar cannot be envisioned without the progress of the women of the region.

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2018 ) :The speakers at a Women's Day celebration event have agreed that a prosperous Tharparkar cannot be envisioned without the progress of the women of the region.

They opined that the fruits of development brought about by Thar Coal projects should be well divided into women as well to have a developed region. The development without active and equal participation of women shall not exist, speakers expressed at the event organized on late Sunday evening by the Thar Foundation at village Gorrano to celebrate the Thari women's contribution in the socioeconomic betterment of the region.

By driving one of the largest country's dump trucks at Block II, the speakers said that Thari women have proved to the world that they are enough capable to stand by men in any field. "Other companies to start operations on Thar Coal Field should adopt the employment and women empowerment model devised by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC)," they said.

Numbers of stalls were also set up where cultural handicrafts were put to display as crowds of nearby villagers thronged the venue and purchased the items. Children performed tableaux and sang folk songs, filling the audience with joy.

In her presidential remarks, Aapa Mumtaz, an educationist from Thar, lamented the fact that despite being celebrated in such social and political gatherings, women were not yet free to work alongside men in most of the fields.

Till today, women perform physically strenuous chores, is married before reaching adulthood, works in the fields, without much recognition, she said and added, It is not babies who are actually malnourished but the mothers who have not much to eat, let alone eating healthy, nutritious food.

High time we paid attention to this pitiful state of women in Tharparkar. By dint of the women empowerment programs initiated by SECMC, she said that the women of the region have now found a voice and a support in this world of men.

The dump truck driving program is of particular significance as it laid the foundation of Thari women's participation in the community affairs, and it has become synonymous to women empowerment, she added.

Narrating her story to the audience, one of the women dump truck driving trainees Lata said, "Thari girls should seek education, first and foremost, to pave the way for playing greater role in their later days of life.

Education places us in better positions to avail opportunities and to contribute more," It is through education that women can have a better understanding of the community and family affairs occurring around her, not to mention the numerous way she can benefit her family and children through education, Lata said.

The Manager of education wing of Thar Foundation Sabeen Shah said that women have different roles as mother, daughter, sister, friend, and as wife. "In all the roles she plays, woman put in her best," Shah said.

The representative of Thar Foundation Fayyaz Soomro said that with the change in time, social conditions have also changed and "now that women have started gaining more participation in different walks of life, the progress of our society is inevitable." The speakers also included Dr Ashok Bakhtani, Fareeda Akbar, Shahnaz Pinjaro, Rukhsana Kunbhar, Mohini Kumari among others.