Summary Pakistan is at no. 133 for its ratings in Gender Inequality around the world
ISLAMABAD: In Pakistan, which falls at no. 133 for its ratings in Gender Inequality around the world, more than 11.9 million women are feared to lose their ‘right to vote’ due to discrepancies and flawed policies of its National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
It has been learnt through reliable sources that some 11.7 million women could not exercise their right in choosing the current government during 2018 General Elections in Pakistan. This figure has now crossed 11.9 million.
In this male dominant society where women are largely dependent on the ‘male heads’ of their families for getting their official documents made, the rules and procedures put in place by NADRA are hardly of any help to them.
Nighat Siddique, Director General Gender Affairs at Election Commission of Pakistan, believes that NADRA required to improve its policies to ensure easy processing of Computerized National Identity Card (CNIC) for women. While speaking to this scribe, Nighat Siddique suggested that NADRA needed to include women staff in their MRVs (Mobile Registration Vans).
“Most women especially in villages and underdeveloped areas hesitate to be photographed by male photographers working with these MRVs, which is a major impediment in getting CNICs of these women made”, Nighat Siddique said.
“It isn’t just about their voting right, due to absence of an identity card, such women in particular could not avail any official facilities,” Nighat Siddique said.
“It concerns me more that instead of taking steps towards swift registration of such women, the figure of unregistered women which stood at 11.7 million in 2018 now stands at 11.9 million with a recent spike of another two hundred thousand unregistered women,” she said.
Gender experts and Women Rights Activists believe that due to this grave problem, women without CNICs could not get their bank accounts maintained and nor could they get their due share in ancestral properties.
According to the recent census conducted in Pakistan, total population of women in this developing country is 101.3 million which means they comprise almost half of the total population.
Reported by: Special Correspondent Adeel Javed
