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Revision as of 14:25, 7 November 2006 by Siddiqui (talk | contribs) (Edit error)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Quotas in Pakistan were introduced in order to give equal oppurtunity for jobs, representation in assmeblies and educational institutions to women, non-Muslims and under developed rural areas. Quotas are also called reservations in Pakistan.
Quotas for women
The 1956, 1962, 1970, 1973 and 1985 amendments of the constitution all provided for reserved seats for women at both the provincial and national assemblies, but of small magnitude, mostly 5 per cent to 10 per cent and through indirect elections by the members of the assemblies themselves. Reservations lapsed in 1988 after three general elections as provided for in the 1985 amendment. In the general elections of 1997, women’s representation hovered between 4 per cent in the provincial assemblies (2 out of 460) to 2 per cent in the Senate (2 out of 87) and 4 per cent in the National Assembly (7 out of 217).2 At the local government level, where 5 per cent to 12 per cent of the seats were reserved for women through indirect elections by the councils themselves, women constituted only 10 per cent of the membership in 1993 (8,246 out of 75,556).
| Province | General | Women | Non-Muslim | Total |
| Punjab | 297 | 66 | 8 | 363 |
| Sindh | 130 | 29 | 9 | 159 |
| NWFP | 99 | 22 | 3 | 121 |
| Balochistan | 51 | 11 | 3 | 62 |
| Total | 577 | 128 | 23 | 728 |