CPEC is in full swing, and local women are playing their part. The project has trained and hired local women to work on the project as part of its initiative to delegate women in impoverished areas.
Twenty-one women from the surrounding areas of Mithi and Islamkot have been employed for solar panel cleaning. The women are aged between 18-45, and apart from three younger ones, all are married and mothers. “This job is like a life-changing opportunity for all of us,” said Komal Kumari, from Mithi, who lives with her parents. She is the Supervisor of the Solar panel cleaning team at the project.
Komal has been working with the Thar Block-1 Integrated Coal Mine Power Project for the last four months and has noticed much improvement in the lives of all women under her management.
“Females have finally stepped out of their homes. It’s a huge step towards women women’s empowerment. These women are not educated. They used to be helpless and scared before they started working. Things are changing. People who used to object to my work are now calling me to give their wives or daughters a job. There is so much awareness among women now,” she said.