Daily Times

PESHAWAR: At a time when established businessmen are winding up their businesses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and shifting to relatively safer places of the country, young entrepreneurs especially women fill in the gaps.

Sonia Batool had been working as a sales girl for the last ten years in Peshawar. She had kicked off her carrier from Rs, 8000 but now in Peshawar she owns her own shop in a busy trade centre and takes care of her family. “I started my business from just Rs 35,000 and now the annual turnover has reached Rs.1 million. I am looking after the financial needs of my entire family. Working women, especially those running their own businesses, have to face multiple constraints in a society like ours. On the one hand, a taboo is still attached to the idea of woman stepping out of her home to earn livelihood, on the other, the security situation has of late given our families more reason and excuse to keep us locked,” Sonia said.

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has compiled data for the workforce trend in Pakistan for the year 2012-2013. The employment to population ratio for women in Pakistan during 2013 hovers around 22.1 per cent, while in KP it has been 13.8 per cent for women. The share of own-account workers in total employment of women in KP has been 20.6 per cent while the participation of waged and salaried workers in total employment for women in KP has been 15.5 per cent. The trend of girls into sales and marketing has risen considerably across Pakistan; however, seeing it on the rise in KP is a delight. It speaks volume about the changing trend in a province known for its conservative and patriarchal societal bonds.

Fifty-year old Mumtaz Tehniat is a staunch believer of the fact that if a woman is determined to do something then no hurdle can block her way. She had worked as a sales person in a local shopping mall for over 10 years besides adding to her income by stitching clothes at home for private customers. Her husband is a cancer patient, making her the only bread earner for the family consisting of herself and one daughter. Now she is running her own shop, where she sells toys and other stuff for kids. Naseem Riaz, a member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Women Chamber of Commerce and Industries said that around 300 women are member of the chamber and each one of them has their own business.

Riaz herself trains women on jewelry making. More than 300 of her students have started their own business at a small level in their homes. The National Institute of Folks and Traditional Heritage famously called Lok Virsa Islamabad, employs one of her students, as a trainer in jewelry making and design. Besides owning a shop, she has been selling her work at different international exhibitions held in Dubai, Vietnam and Thailand. “Women are doing their best to counter hurdles; however, the government should also lend us assistance in the form of interest-free loans and by relaxing the conditions to borrowing loan. In spite of terrorism and militancy, women in Peshawar have not given up their businesses. In fact, more women are entering into entrepreneurial activities”, Mumtaz Tehniat said.

Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaaf Peshawar women wing President Rabia Basri, says that the KP Government will soon announce special packages to facilitate women in business. She informed that the government is in contact with the Khyber Bank and will soon announce interest-free loans for women in KP.

Women comprise 50 per cent of Pakistan’s population. If even half of these women participate in economic activities, not only the financial position of most of them would improve, the country would also leap into a prosperous future in a relatively short time. Every developed country has used the same formula to progress and the result is before us.