Addressing an event organised by the Pakistan International Business Forum in connection with the Khadija-tul-Kubra Exhibition and Entrepreneurship Pavilion, titled “Our Skills, Our Identity”, Hafiz Naeem said women could not be expected to stay out of the workforce when families were finding it increasingly difficult to meet their expenses.
He said the biggest concern for working women was their safety and stressed that they must be able to work in an environment where their dignity and security are protected.
“Women who work must be provided protection,” he said, calling on the state to establish institutions where women could seek justice.
On education, Hafiz Naeem claimed that around eight million girls in Punjab were not attending school, while the provincial government had outsourced 15,000 public schools.
He questioned the decision to outsource government schools, saying the state was responsible for providing free and quality education to children.
Criticising the provincial government, he also alleged that Punjab’s education system had created a divide between public and private institutions, with private schools charging excessively high fees for quality education.
He said the state’s fundamental responsibilities included providing healthcare, education and security, but people continued to pay taxes on almost everything, including mobile phone cards, without receiving adequate public services in return.
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Hafiz Naeem further criticised the growing economic divide between the rich and the poor, saying the middle class was also bearing the brunt of the country’s economic difficulties.
He said women’s employment should not be discouraged through social objections, particularly when the rising cost of living made it difficult for families to survive on one income.
“If there is justice in society, women can be spared many difficulties,” he said, adding that efforts were needed to change a system that failed to protect people's rights and provide essential facilities.
