The Sindh cabinet has approved the ‘Sindh Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill 2018’ on Tuesday.
The cabinet further instructed the advisor to Chief Minister on the Law to examine the clauses and then send it for approval to the provincial assembly.
As per the details, the Women Development Department has prepared the draft bill to ensure the protection of women against harassment at the workplace and ensure the provision of a legal framework to address their problems.
Baqaullah Unar, the Secretary Women Development Department, presented the bill before the cabinet, briefing the members on the prominent features of the bill.
Notably, the bill seeks to declare winking or staring at women at the workplace as a punishable offense.
Syed Murad Ali Shah, the chief minister of Sindh, presided over the cabinet meeting, which approved the bill.
The cabinet also approved a poverty reduction strategy to initiate the rural and urban poverty reduction programme worth Rs.72.5 billion across the province.
The programme shall invest in health, education, water, sanitation, and development of internal village roads in the next five years.
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The strategy comes as a result of the collaboration of the Planning & Development Department with the European Union, who carried out an extensive survey for the last two years to formulate it.
This strategy lays out a framework for the provision of internal roads, health facilities, vocational training, water supply and drainage schemes, and above all, a holistic approach to improve the quality of education.
The Chief Minister stated that this programme would be additional to the existing poverty reduction initiatives.
Dr. Azra Pechuho, the health minister of Sindh, apprised the cabinet that they have constructed four modern regional blood centres (RBCs) in collaboration with the German Development Bank.
However, the department shall contract out these centres to an expert private sector organisation under the public-private partnership, as it has no prior experience of handling such centres.
The cabinet approved the contracts after due deliberation. It also took up the issue of usage of government number plates on private vehicles. The CM ordered a crackdown on those responsible.
Via: ARY News
