ACE sets up women empowerment cells

LAHORE : Anti-Corruption Establishment Punjab, (ACE) Director General M Gohar Nafees has established women empowerment cells at ACE headquarters and regional directorates across Punjab.

The cells have been set up to facilitate women complainants and to fast track issues pertaining to inheritance evasion by family members, gender discrimination in job opportunities and posting-transfers of female officers/officials in connivance with public servants by downplaying merit and illegal occupation on women’s owned properties and asserts by male family members or other social miscreants with the help of government servants by considering women as a weaker segment of society.

ACE DG Gohar Nafees has also sought a report from all regional heads on such cases, inquiries and complaints pertaining to women’s rights exploitation. He said a social awareness campaign #Women Empowerment with ACE# was also being designed for maximum outreach. In the recent past, ACE has helped dozens of women in reclaiming their properties and inheritance rights by apprehending the exploiters. A recent case in point is the arrest of Hafiz Zahoor Ahmed alias Arshad Ali on Saturday who had fraudulently prepared property purchase documents of a retired teacher, Ms Azhara Zafar, and deprived her of a one kanal plot in Multan. Ms Azhara took the matter to social media and appealed to the prime minister and ACE DG against illegal occupation of her property. The DG took notice of the land grabbing and directed Multan Regional Director Haider Wattoo to enquire into the matter and report. Wattoo contacted the aggrieved woman and after thorough investigation into the matter arrested the fake owner of the property who had sold the plot to a third party on fake documents.

Commenting on the matter, the DG said a case has been registered against seven people including public servants who facilitated the illegal occupation and the main suspect has been arrested who has confessed to his crime.

We have obtained a judicial remand of the culprit and soon the matter will be solved after handing over the property to Ms Azhara Zafar. ACE is determined to empower women by helping them reclaim their rights, the DG said.