SIALKOT: Punjab Labour and Human Resources Secretary Muhammad Naeem Ghous on Tuesday said that the industrial workers of Sialkot were the backbone of the export-based SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) sector of the city, which had been doing a great job for the growth of the national economy by annually earning considerable foreign exchange for the national exchequer. Addressing local industrialists at the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) here, Muhammad Naeem Ghous said that the welfare of the industrial workers and solution to their problems were among the top priorities of the Punjab government. He stressed the local industry owners to ensure the payment of minimum monthly wages, Rs32,000, to the workers and play their part in securing the rights of the workers.
He stated that the safety of the industrial workers must also be ensured and proper measures be taken under OHS (occupational health and safety). He said that he was fully aware that Sialkot along with Sheikhupura needed more labour colonies, hospitals and schools as number of the industrial labourers had increased considerably with the passage of the time. The secretary said that there were 31 labour colonies in the different cities of the Punjab, but quite ironically in most of the colonies there were issues of the ownership of the residential flats. He added that in several cases, flats were rented to the workers and in many cases flats were obtained on ownership basis only to resale. He said that allotment of the flats to the workers on ownership basis with no cost at all would be the priority of the Punjab government and proposal would soon be communicated to the government.
Commenting about the state of affairs at the schools for the children of the labourers, he opined that there were several issues like shortage of teaching staff and lack of many other facilities. He said that proposals from the local industry owners would be highly welcomed for the capacity building of the existing schools or construction of the new ones.