By M.B. Kalhoro

LARKANA: Five women complaint centres established in different districts of the province are on the verge of closure because of the government’s lack of interest in running them, according to sources.

Sindh Minister for Women Development Tauqeer Fatima Bhutto told this correspondent that the entire staff posted at the centres had been working without salary since August 2009.

The unavailability of funds had caused a variety of problems for the centres and the women in distress who were receiving legal assistance and moral support were feeling neglected, she said.

She said that she had personally requested the chief minister two or three times to sign the summery for release of funds but in vain. Bureaucratic tactics were hampering smooth running of the centres, she said.

She said that the ministry wanted to run these centres in Larkana, Nawabshah, Sukkur, Hyderabad and Karachi on a permanent basis but it seemed a Herculean task under the obtaining circumstances.

A centre’s expenses with six employees at each centre does not exceed Rs150,000 a month, said the sources.

They deal with cases of domestic violence against women, issues of dissolution of marriages, property disputes and other related matters. In certain cases victim women were provided free legal assistance and shelter at Darul Aman.

The sources said that the matter was conveyed to President Asif Ali Zardari during his visit to Larkana on Dec 27 and he had asked Sindh chief minister who was present there to immediately sign the summery.

But the chief minister had not signed it yet, which had compounded problems at the centres, said the sources.
Source: Dawn
Date:2/4/2010