Sindh Introduces Equal Wages and Maternity Benefits for Women in Agriculture

The Sindh cabinet has approved the Sindh Agriculture Women Workers Rules, ensuring equal wages, maternity benefits, and protection against harassment for women in farming, livestock, and fisheries.

The initiative, supported by the International Labor Organization, also introduces the Benazir Women Agriculture Workers Card and a Rs. 500 million endowment fund for women workers’ welfare.

Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon highlighted that these measures formally recognize women’s contributions to agriculture and are a first-of-its-kind initiative in Pakistan.

In education, the cabinet approved the Student Attendance Monitoring and Redress System (SAMRS), a digital platform to track school attendance and enrolment.

The system will monitor student absenteeism and provide interventions such as counseling and peer support, with full implementation across Sindh within one year.

Other key decisions include:

• Sindh Development and Maintenance of Infrastructure Cess (Second Amendment) Act, 2026, streamlining industrial and transport infrastructure funding.
• Expansion of the wheat release policy to private traders, aiming to stabilize prices.
• Allotment of four acres in Malir for a nursing school linked to Hasan Suleman Memorial Hospital, along with $7.6 million in additional funding for hospital expansion.
• Institutional and judicial appointments, including Justice (Retd) Irshad Ali Shah as chairperson of the Sindh Revenue Board Appellate Tribunal, and presiding officers for various Anti-Terrorism Courts.