This article is contributed by
Umair Talib, Ijaz
Ashraf, Kashif Zaheer, Anila Noureen and Kiran Khalil
'O people! Fear your Lord Who shaped you from a soul and
made its mate from within it, and from that couple extended many men and women
and fear Allah in whose name you ask for (your rights) and pay attention to the
ties of relationship(male and female). Undoubtedly, Allah is watching you all
time. (Al-Nisa 4:1)
Today woman is more safe & secure. She acquire her
rights on the dint of her meticulously work, fastidiousness, consistency and
determination. The actual credit goes to rural women who devote herself from
Ø Sowing to harvesting of crops
Ø Kitchen management to household chores
Ø Look after of her children’s to raring of animals
Anyhow she turns every stone to prove her worth in all
walks of life. She works side by side with their male partners on farm.
According to the economic survey of Pakistan 2012-13 population of Pakistan is
184.35 million out of it 48 % are women. Accord to another survey 79.4% woman
and 60.8% men in villages engaged with agricultural practices. Woman in any
facet; mother, wife, sister or daughter seems arbitrating with her work. She
stood along with her male partner to manage crops and rare animals. She also
helps him in breadwinning. Anyhow she supports him in all thick & thins of
life. Her office is her fields and she daily attends her office. sometimes
there is no assistant in her office, she have to cater all her official works
i.e. cutting of fodder for animals, their bathing, management of their dung
properly, sowing and then application of irrigation, pesticide & fertilizer
to crops and at the time of harvesting carefully transport to home. No doubt
only men operate the heavy machinery but the more laborious work is her
responsibility i.e. manual or hand sowing mostly of vegetables, earthing up,
weeding and hand picking. Actually woman’s contribution from seed bed
preparation to post harvest management is above 60%.
Ironically, there is no clean drinking water in most of the
countryside areas of Pakistan, so it is also her responsibility to brought
pitchers of fresh water from far furlong areas. She also covers many miles to
collect fuel wood.
Women always steadfast to her work but lack technical
skills. Its investment of energies is manifolds more than that of her return.
Almost she invest 10 hour of the day in activities pertinent to crop &
animal farming but hardly able to manage daily food. It is need of the hour to
teach her these required technical skills. Unfortunately there is great paucity
of agricultural women learning & training institutes in country. The major
reason of dearth of these institutes is that woman is unaware of her vested
rights. Our parochial social system also fuels to the fire. Nevertheless, Islam
not only allows but also bound her to get education. It is clearly defined in
hadith
“To be an educated is duty of all Muslims either
male or female”.
Significance of women education is also clearly
manifests by this saying
“If we educate
a man mean educate a man and if educate a woman mean educate a family”
There is significant gender discrimination in our country
particularly in countryside areas. Rural women are subjected to male chauvinism,
feudal mindset; unlawful customs and socio-cultural segregation are deemed a
symbol of pride. While Prophet SAW says that
“Accept my advice in doing well
with your female counter parts”
Our rural social system also dislikes the women education
and 114.78 (62%) million population resides in rural areas. Therefore, Pakistan
is developing country in spite of having 110 million (60%) work force out of
which 56 million are women. Nevertheless, women join the public and private
institutes but participation in agricultural extension department is almost
zero percent.
Who someone join the department are confined to official
work and as aforementioned in rural areas 79.4% women engaged with agriculture
but our rural social system does not allow them to interact with unknown male
counterpart even for her own benefit. Therefore, it is order of the day to
recruit female extension workers and appreciate rural women for their gross
contribution in development of country. As with increasing population and
inflation it is difficult for a man to run a family prosperously until her
female partner stood along. Due to lack of education and awareness she is
unable to play her vested role. So it is dire need to educate & train her
about her ascending family, economical and socio-political role in national and
international development. As Pakistan is an agro based economy and 79.4% women
engaged with agriculture. So capacity building of woman is synonymous to
development of agriculture. Women have more potential and also more committed
to her job than man in each and every walk of life i.e. Irfa kareem, Malala
Yousafzai etc. she can also perform very well in agriculture department but she
lacks technical skills.
“For men there is share in what their parents and
relatives have left behind, and for women there is share in what their parents
and relatives have left behind, be the bequest little or be it much, it is a
share estimated, determined.” (Al-Nisa 4:7)
Therefore, Govt. should restructured the agricultural
extension department through recruiting female extension workers that they
train the rural women about better & recommended sowing and harvesting of
crops, crop residue management, raring of animals, kitchen gardening, domestic
poultry farming, washing and pasteurization of milk. Extension department not
only should remunerate them equal to men but also pay extra allowances to
encourage rural women. Also train these workers about how a woman can install
and run cottage industries for betterment of her living stander.
Govt. is required to promote a women-friendly mindset and
lessen the influence of patriarchal setup in societies.
Establish such community centers where female extension
workers can trained the rural women. Set up the female societies at union
council level which help and guide the women about solution of their problem.
Also provides them marketing facilities for their self-prepared products.
Proper mobilization of feminine stuff (48%) of country can set it on the way to
developed nation.
“I have
always maintained that no nation can ever be worthy of its existence that
cannot take its women along with men. No struggle can ever be succeed without
women participating side by side with men. There are two powers in the world:
one is the sword and other is the pen. There is great competition and rivalry
between the two. There is a third power stronger than both, that of the women”
Qaid-e-Azam
Islamia
college for women
March
25, 1940
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