Pakistan sees growing presence of women in bureaucracy, armed forces

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Pakistan has seen a growing presence of women in the civil services and armed forces during the past decade, according to government statistics and officials.

According to statistics, the number of women in the federal and the provincial bureaucracy has increased 20% during the past decade, with scores of female officers holding important positions.

As borne out by statistics provided the Establishment Division, out of 571,619 federal employees, 27,922 are female, making up nearly 5% of the total strength. The ratio was well below 4% a decade ago.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency for International Women's Day, Syed Abu Ahmad Akif, a former Cabinet Secretary observed that not only in health and education -- traditionally women's fields for employment, there is an increasing trend of female officers joining the civil service.

"Although change in traditional societies is slow, fortunately, we have seen an increasing trend of female officers joining the civil services," said Akif, who served as the country's top bureaucrat.

At the same time, he added that there is an increasing acceptance of females in almost every role, including those that were males preserve, like the deputy commissioner or the district police chief.

"When I had joined the civil service (in 1983), the general perception was that Pakistanis would not accept a female field officer like an Assistant Commissioner or a deputy commissioner or that such an officer would not be successful. But, nowadays, this taboo no longer exists," he said.

It was only in 1998 when the first female deputy commissioner was posted in the Thatta district of Sindh.

The federal government reserved a 10% quota for employment of women to all posts across the board in federal government services including Central Superior Service, or CSS, to be filled by direct recruitment, in addition to their participation in open merit.

The Defense Division, the figures show, is the largest administrative unit in terms of female employees with a share of 36.86% out of total female employees. The second-largest unit is the Federal Education & Professional Training Division with 19.74% of total female employees.

National Health Services Regulations & Coordination, Interior and Communications Divisions is third, fourth and fifth with a share of 8.32%, 6.56% and 4.79%, respectively, out of total female employees.

In terms of the share, northeastern Punjab, the country's most populous province, has 57% of total female employees, followed by southern Sindh province at 22%, northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 8.92% and southwestern Balochistan at 3.19%, respectively.

The capital, Islamabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, northern Gilgit Baltistan region and erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have a share of 5.34%, 96%, 0.70% and 0.45% respectively.

Despite a much-decreasing tendency was observed in the overall working strength of employees of autonomous bodies, and corporations due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Establishment Division report said the working strength of female employees remained almost the same when compared to last year.

"This shows serious efforts of Government to provide better employment opportunities to the females and implementation of 10% women quota in letter and spirit," it said.

- More and more women joining armed forces

Apart from the civil service, the number of women joining the three armed forces -- police, airport security force and rangers -- have also increased “significantly” in recent years.

In a historic first, Nigar Johar became the first female officer to be promoted to the rank of three-star general in 2020. She is currently heading the covet Medical Corps of Pakistan Army, commonly known as the Surgeon General of Pakistan Army.

In addition to the medical corps, a good number of women are graduating even as fighter pilots and paratroopers -- the two prestigious jobs in the powerful military and the air force.

The army has also increased the number of women officers and staff taking part in international peace missions to fulfill the UN quota of 15% female representation in peace missions since 2019, an army official confirmed.

In 2020, a 15-member "female engagement team" deployed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo received major recognition for being the first all-female group from Pakistan to serve in a UN peacekeeping mission.

“Despite social and economical hurdles, Pakistani women have broken into the fields, which otherwise used to be considered for men only, in recent decades, “ said Faleeha Kazmi, head of the Persian department at the University of Lahore for Women.

“Pakistani women have got themselves recognized through a relentless struggle and commitment. They are seen everywhere, from diplomacy to armed forces, and from judiciary to education, “ Kazmi told Anadolu Agency.

- Holding coveted posts

Many women officers are currently holding executive posts of district judges, deputy inspector general of police, deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, and city police officer across the country, mainly in Punjab.

In January, Justice Ayesha Malik took the oath as the country’s first-ever Supreme Court judge.

Several women are representing Pakistan as ambassadors, consuls and attaches in important capitals of the world.

Saima Saleem, the first visually impaired Pakistani diplomat is currently Second Secretary on Human Rights for Pakistan's Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

Helena Iqbal Saeed and Sheeba Shah also made history as the first-ever police officers to be promoted as the additional inspector general and the deputy inspector general of police in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Around 100 female commandos are working in the elite police force of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan and was once the hotbed of militancy.

- Sky is the limit

Days before Women’s Day, the government appointed Nasira Khatoon as the first female vice-chancellor of the University of Karachi, the country’s largest state-run university.

Tasneem Zehra Husain, Pakistan's first woman scientist to earn her Ph.D in the cutting-edge world of string theory, says “every field is open to the girls.”

Husain, a doctoral alumna of Sweden’s Stockholm University, where she studied theoretical physics and won a scholarship to further study high-energy physics, stressed that there is no limit to what women can accomplish in science.

"If students, especially girls, get proper guidance and counseling, the sky is the limit for them and they can do wonders. It's high time that we start telling our girls that every field is open for them,” she told Anadolu Agency.