LAHORE: Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht has said that women are a large component of country’s population and by providing them equal vocational training and employment opportunities and secure their workplaces country’s GDP can be increased up to 30 percent.
Addressing on the 16th convocation of Lahore College Women's University here Wednesday, he said the government was introducing reforms at the policy level for women empowerment and development. The government has been ensuring provision of loans, vocational and technical training opportunities and safety in the workplace for women alongside women's representation in the policy-making process in various sectors.
The minister said today's women are stronger, more educated and more enlightened than the women of the past who are capable of creating opportunities for themselves. The present generation cannot only defeat the outdated traditions of the past but also creating new norms.
Expressing best wishes for the graduates of the university, he said that your last day at the university will always be in the form of a fond memory which will stay with you so that celebrate your victories, defeats, successes and failures like a monument with the belief that your future life is full of successes and joys for you.
Other participants in the ceremony included the Vice-Chancellor, Rector's Board of Governors, university faculty and alumni. Prior to the address, the VC presented an honorary shield to the minister.
Answering the questions of the media representatives, he said that inflation was a global issue and could not fix it only in Pakistan. The government's job is to provide relief to the people. Under the Ehsas programme, financial assistance is being provided to low-income families.