Islamabad, Oct 15 (IANS): Pakistani rural women are one of the most vulnerable and marginalised segments of the society despite their significant role in the rural economy, National Assembly Speaker Fehmida Mirza has said.

Rural women must get education so they could face their diverse problems. Education is an inalienable right of every individual in the country, she said.

She asked the government to allocate funds for setting up schools for rural women.

They were also subjected to violence, economic exploitation and lack of basic health care, she said in a speech on the occasion of International Rural Women's Day Oct 15.

Rural women comprise a major chunk of the population and play a significant role in agriculture sector and rural development but their contributions were not recognized at any level, the official APP news agency reported quoting her.

She said with the advent of latest technology in the agriculture sector, the involvement of women had not been decreased and still have to perform extensive agriculture work.

She said women and children were most vulnerable in natural disasters and calamities and added that rural women in Sindh were currently in great miseries due to havoc played by the recent floods in different parts of the province.

She said majority of women in the rural areas have been displaced and have lost everything. She stressed the need for provision of shelters, livelihood and medical aid to rural women in affected areas on priority basis.

She called upon the banking sector to provide loans to rural women so they could better contribute in national development.