MINGORA: The poor women here on Sunday said that the elected representatives and provincial government should initiate livelihood schemes for them so that they could earn for their children in a respectable way.
They received sewing kits and machines at a ceremony organised by district councillor Naseem Akhtar, who said that Swat had thousands of marginalised families affected by floods and conflict.
She said that all those families required urgent financial resources so that they could get earning for their families. “There are hundreds of widows. They have no one to support them so I mobilised the district council and allocated Rs11 million for sewing and other machines to support them,” she added.
Ms Akhtar urged the elected representatives to come forward and allocate some amount from their funds for the helpless women so that they could live their lives with ease.
The women, who got the sewing machines, said that it was a big assistance and a source of earning livelihood for them.
“My husband was killed in a bomb blast in Mingora. Since then I have been living with my sisters, who support me but I want to earn in a respectable way to look after my two children. I am happy to receive sewing machine with which I will sew clothes to support my children,” said Chand, a resident of Mingora.
Irfana, another woman, said that she was in dire need of sewing machine. “I am excited to get the machine. This is not a small sewing machine but a big source of income for us,” she added.
The women said that government should establish skill development centres in their villages.
“I was a trainer in a centre run under the tehsil municipal administration and life was good as I got regular salary but later on the centre was closed due to militancy,” said Tahira, another woman, who received sewing machine. She added that she got a sigh of relief because she would sew clothes and earn livelihood for her family.
Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2019
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