The government has been asked to offer Management Position Scale-1 (MP-1) to the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) chairperson, The Express Tribune has learnt.
A Punjab government official speaking on condition of anonymity said under the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women Act 2014, the perks and privileges accorded to the chairperson would be equal to those of a BS-21 officer. “This development is against the spirit of the Act,” he said. The government had established the PCSW to empower women, allow for expansion of opportunities for the socioeconomic development of women and to work towards the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.
The government had constituted a search committee, headed by the Punjab chief secretary, to recommend a chairperson for appointment for a period of three years.
The search committee recommended three candidates, Dr Atiya Anayatullah, Muneeza Hashmi and Fouzia Waqar. The chief minister approved the appointment of Waqar and the government issued her a letter of appointment in the last week of February this year.
An official of the Finance Department told The Express Tribune that on Waqar’s request, the Women Development Department had recently recommended that the government upgrade the perks and privileges accorded to the chairperson to those provided in an MP-1 appointment.
According to a notification of the Finance Division issued in December, 2012, an official on MP-1 scale will receive Rs324,000 salary, Rs142,000 house rent and Rs16,200 utilities each month. The perks and privileges accorded to a BS-21 officer are not even half of those offered to an officer on MP-1 scale, an official of the Finance Department said.
Women Development Secretary Irum Bukhari told The Express Tribune that the department had recommended the MP-1 scale for the chairperson on Waqar’s request. She said the Ombudsperson was also receiving the perks and privileges under MP-1 scale, likewise, PCSW is a special institution attached to the Women Development Department. The government has the final say in the matter, Bukhari said.
Waqar said the National Commission on the Status of Women’s chairperson received the perks accorded to officers in MP-1 scale. She said she had just put forward her request on the matter it was now up to the government to decide whether she should be accorded the same privileges as an officer on MP-1.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2014.