TP Report
QUETTA : Ms. Raheela Hameed Durrani, Provincial Minister for Education, has declared that the government is taking decisive action to stop the alarming rate of female school dropouts caused by a lack of basic health access. Stressing that dignity is a fundamental constitutional right, the Minister stated that ensuring affordability for essential women’s health products is now an urgent educational imperative.
The Minister made these remarks while speaking to a high-level delegation of the Menstrual Health and Hygiene Working Group (MHMWG) Secretariat Balochistan.
Highlighting the stark reality that 89% of adolescent girls in the province lack adequate facilities to manage their monthly cycles , Minister Durrani emphasized that this affordability gap is a primary, albeit silent, driver of widespread school absenteeism. Acknowledging the sweeping scale of the crisis affecting an overwhelming number of female students across the province, she framed the issue as a root cause of gender inequality in Balochistan’s educational landscape that requires immediate state intervention.
Speaking in her capacity as the Chairperson of the Provincial MHH Tax Reforms Committee, Ms. Durrani stated that robust legislation and corresponding fiscal measures at both the federal and provincial levels are crucial to rectifying this crisis. She emphasized that essential health items must no longer be subjected to a “luxury tax”. The Minister noted that a dual-track strategy is being actively pursued: strict technical engagement with the Provincial Assembly Secretariat to ensure legislative alignment, alongside bipartisan political lobbying. This coordinated effort aims to legally mandate product affordability and reclassify them as “essential goods” within provincial and federal tax jurisdictions.
Earlier, Shafqat Aziz, Policy Advocacy Specialist, and Ms. Shahana Tabbasum, Provincial Manager MHMWG Secretariat Balochistan, informed the minister on ongoing efforts to operationalize the Provincial MHH Strategy (2025–2030) through targeted fiscal reforms. The delegation briefed the Minister on the comprehensive analysis of the Balochistan Sales Tax Act, 2015, and federal GST structures, as well as the ongoing technical consultations with the Finance Department and Assembly Secretariat designed to translate political will into an actionable, legally sound constitutional document.
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Caption:
Quetta Provincial Education Minister Ms Raheela Hameed Durrani, Chairing High Level meeting on promoting MHH in Balochistan
