Recently, a decision taken by the Punjab government triggered a strong reaction from diverse groups including civil society organisations, human rights defenders, women rights activists, lawyers, parliamentarians, social media activists and others. The decision was removal of Fauzia Viqar from the post of chairperson of the Punjab Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW).

The emphasis of the commission has been on collecting authentic data and empirical evidence to support evidence-based planning in the province. It was for the first time in the country that PCSW developed a Gender Management Information System (GMIS) database and issued a gender parity report that helped policymakers in devising result-oriented policies.

The PCSW set up help desks for women in more than 700 police stations, launched women helpline to facilitate women in distress, offer free legal aid, create awareness on nikah nama, domestic violence, harassment at work place, setting up of transitional homes, assessment of existing institutions like Dar ul Amaan, Dara ul Falah etc. Besides, there were women economic and social well-being survey and women safety audits carried out by the commission.

The PCSW law was approved and adopted in 2014 and Fauzia Viqar became chairperson of the commission on March 8 (the World Women Day) the same year. On completion of her first three-year term in March 2017 she was given another term till March 2020 as per rules.

Under the PCSW Act the chairperson of the commission can be removed only after holding an inquiry and mentioning the reason(s) for removal. By law the government could not dismiss her without assigning any reason.

Ashifa Riaz Fatyana, Minister of the Women Development Department (WDD), Punjab -- the commission’s parent body, tells TNS they acted on the instructions of the competent authority that is the Chief Minister of Punjab to remove Viqar from her post. She says if anyone feels there is a violation of law they can take up the matter and she can respond only then. She does not comment on why they did not follow the procedures mentioned in Section 7 of PCSW Act.

Fatyana adds the PTI government plans to make this post an unpaid one on which the next chairperson will work on a voluntary basis. Her point is that the government is cash-strapped and cannot afford the luxury of paying huge salaries for work that committed people shall do for free. On being reminded that the concerned law suggests Management Position Scale 1 scale for this position, she says, "the competent authority can ask for an amendment in law and make this position a voluntary assignment".

Fatyana rejects the impression that women empowerment and women rights are not a priority area for PTI and says the cut in the commission’s budget is only due to financial constraints. "Once we have sufficient funds we will release funds for PCSW right away." She states that women’s rights are very close to the PTI’s heart and they will prove it in time to follow.

Though this is a step taken against a single person, it in fact appears to be a continuation of what is happening with different commissions on the status of women in all the provinces and in the centre. During this year, the funds for PCSW have totally dried out whereas the KP commission is without a chairperson and some important staff since 2016. Sindh commission is functional but totally politicised due to contentious appointments, and therefore not performing well. The worst is the situation in Balochistan where a commission is yet to be formed. The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) gives framework and guiding principles and the chairpersons of provincial commissions are supposed to be its member.

What is going to be the fate of such commissions and their declared objectives related to empowerment of women and policymaking around these issues?

The incumbent government has removed almost all the heads of government bodies/departments appointed during the last PML-N government.

Talking to TNS on WhatsApp call from the US, Fauzia Viqar says she is returning to the country in a day or so and will decide then whether to challenge her removal in court or not. She clarifies that the chairperson can only be removed if proven guilty of misconduct, being insolvent, mentally or physically challenged or sentenced to imprisonment for an offence involving moral turpitude. As none of this could be proved, she says, she was removed without giving a reason, which is against the law.

On the neglect shown by the government, she says, "The annual budget of the commission was Rs 120 million in 2017-18 which was brought down to Rs 15 million in 2018-19 by the PTI government." For the year 2019-20, she says, the commission proposed four projects to the government of which none were approved.

Fauzia Viqar complains they could not update the GMIS this year because the funds required for this purpose were not provided from the development budget like before. Under the new arrangement, she says, funds were to be provided from the current budget which never came. Due to this crisis, there is no staff since December 31, 2018.

She reacts to the allegations that she was handpicked by former Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif and explains she was selected by a search committee formed for this purpose and represented even by PTI MPAs like Shunila Ruth and senior bureaucrats. She also responds to the objections of certain quarters who asked why the PCSW overstepped its mandate and sought funds from international donors to execute development projects. Their objection primarily is that the PCSW should play the role of facilitator and let the local NGOs seek and use these funds.

Fauzia says under the law the PCSW can receive funds from international donors but even then they used those provided by the Punjab government to execute its projects, barring two projects funded by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Department for International Development (DFID). One reason for this is that the international donors prefer to work with government departments rather than NGOs that have been under the scanner for quite a long time, she concludes.

Ume Laila, Executive Director (ED) HomeNet Pakistan (HNP) who is also a member of the civil society consortium demanding the restoration of Viqar and the strengthening of these commissions shares her concerns. She tells TNS that all such commissions and human rights institutions are the result of decades of struggle and consistent demands.

"Bridging the gap between the government machinery and the vulnerable communities is an important function we perform." By weakening these commissions and giving them a strong blow by removing a chairperson against the law, the government has brought everything to square one. Therefore, she suggests, "the government accept its mistake with grace and reinstate Viqar so that she can complete her term that expires in March 2020".

Khalid Mahmood, Director, Labour Education Foundation (LEF) says he is not comfortable with the government’s idea of making the PCSW chairpersonship an unpaid job because he thinks voluntary heads for such organisations prove disastrous. There are countless examples where, he says, the voluntary heads of organisations hardly hold meetings or show up at office because they have to look after their businesses to earn money. Secondly, he thinks, many a time people interested in making illegal money go for such voluntary positions in government organisations.

Mahmood scoffs at the excuse of fund shortage given by Fatyana and questions where the funds came when the PTI raised the salaries of Punjab Assembly MPAs and announced lifetime perks like house, vehicles etc for the CM. The real issue, he says, is that the present government is absolving itself of responsibilities and applying major cuts on expenses related to health, education, labour, human rights and women rights etc.