Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senior leader and party candidate from Amirakadal constituency Syed Altaf Bukhari on Wednesday said the PDP as promised in its manifesto will make it mandatory for all political parties to field 33 per cent female candidates in elections.
Addressing a women’s meeting at his office in Shiekh Bagh today, Bukhari said that PDP is committed to empower women in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that women in the conflict ridden state of J&K have been the worst sufferers as they have seen their near and dear ones being killed, disappeared and facing other violations. He said that it was during the brief period of Mufti Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that women in Kashmir had heaved a sigh of relief.“PDP government had not only created a sense of security among the women but had ensured that the youth return their homes by the evening which was otherwise a dream for a section of mothers before 2002. Mothers would crave for the whereabouts of their children and it was under PDP rule that had brought peace to their minds,” he said.
He expressed concern over the fact that thousands of women and girls living in low-income urban communities across the Srinagar city and other towns in the state still find it difficult to make both the ends meet.
“PDP has pledged to help design solutions that enable women to feel safe and empowered under its rule,” Bukhari said while lamenting that National Conference in past six years failed to make any tangible changes in the lives of women in the state. Bukhari stressed that present dispensation has not been able to do away with causes of declining sex ratio in the State. He said a special budgetary provision will be chalked out by the PDP to empower families, indirectly addressing the reasons for the declining sex ratio in Jammu and Kashmir.
“There is a dire need to formulate a state policy for empowerment of women on the lines of the national policy for empowerment of women and I assure you that PDP under the dynamic leadership of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ms Mehbooba Mufti will definitely succeed in achieving this goal,” Bukhari remarked.
He said that that PDP’s policy aimed at women empowerment through convergence of services, resources, infrastructure and manpower will be formulated in collaboration with all the related departments.The policy he said will address the issues faced by the urban and rural women separately and will address all the issues facing the women in the state with a different approach. He said PDP is under obligation to focus its attention to the economic betterment and development of women in the state as it believes that women have an important role in the family, the professional world, in social life and in politics.“It is our women in underdeveloped urban or rural areas who undertake the more onerous tasks involved in the day-to-day running of households, including the collection of fuel wood for cooking and the fetching of drinking water. Even though their nutritional status and literacy rates are lower than those of men. They also command lower wages as labour: as rural non-agricultural labourers. This all has to change and with your support PDP will create equal opportunities in every sphere of life for women in this state,” Bukhari stressed.
On this occasion, Anjum Fazili, State coordinator women’s wing, Jeela Rafiqi, coordinator Kashmir province women’s wing highlighted the role of J&K Women in bringing transformation of the society. Besides the women heads of all the eleven wards, they also emphasized on conducting awareness camps in economically poor areas in the city and far flung areas so that the women living in these areas would get proper information about the welfare programmes chalked out by the PDP.