People to punish Panama league in polls: Bilawal

KARACHI: The Chairman of Pakistan People's Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, has said the PPP is working on a policy to ensure the labourers get representation in the parliament.

He was addressing a press conference on Tuesday to brief the media about the achievements and future plans of his party to fulfill the rights of the labourers and to ensure maximum privileges for them. Bilawal said the party is working to determine the exact ratio of the representation of labourers in the parliament. “They should get representation in the national and provincial assemblies as well as in the Senate like the local councils, and legislate policies for workers,” said the PPP chairman. He was accompanied by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, former Senate chairman Raza Rabbani, Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah, and PPP leader Farhatullah Babar.

Talking about the PML-N, Bilawal said he understands the game Nawaz Sharif is playing, adding the people will take revenge from the PML-N in the forthcoming elections. The PPP chairman criticised the federal government for doing nothing for the welfare of labourers and instead planning to privatise the PIA and Steel Mills. Bilawal said the PIA has overwhelmingly rejected the federal government’s plan to privatize the national flag carrier by voting in favour of the Peoples’ Unity in the recent referendum. Bilawal said the federal government did not increase the minimum wage for the workers. Similarly, he said they have also stopped implementation on the PPP's policy of allowing workers of the public sector organizations to own up to 12 percent of the organisations' stake.

Bilawal Bhutto asked the federal government to devolve the Workers’ Welfare Fund to the provinces, in line with the 18th Constitutional Amendment, as the Centre is unconstitutionally collecting the fund. He said the devolved funds would be used for the welfare of labourers in the best possible manner.

He said the Sindh government has out performed all other provincial governments by passing a record 14 laws for the welfare of labourers and for the fulfillment of their rights. “Foremost of them is the Sindh Occupational Safety and Health Law-2017,” said the PPP chairman. Bilawal said Sindh became the first province to adopt a tripartite labour policy with the involvement of industrialists, provincial authorities, and labourers representatives .

The PPP chairman said the party is also working to safeguard the rights of peasants and other workers of the agriculture sector. He said if the PPP came to power, it would introduce countrywide laws to abolish debt which is the basis of bonded labour. He said after coming to power, the People's Party would adopt laws to empower women workers and introduce countrywide three-month mandatory maternal leave. The PPP, Bilawal said, would also ensure a 20 per cent increase in pension for labourers as well as access to social security benefits. He said the PPP favoured implementation of all the International Labour Organization conventions and accords.

To a question, Bilawal Bhutto said the Muttahida Quami Movement instead of politicking on the Labour Day should be answerable to the Baldia factory tragedy. He said the MQM should not worry whether or not the PPP would hold a public meeting in Lyari. “I would rather go to every district of Karachi to hold a public meetings,” said the PPP chairman." He said earlier, the MQM led the politics of Karachi, but now the MQM factions are following the People's Party since we held the public meeting in Liaquatabad. “So now the People's Party is leading the politics of Karachi”.

To a question about ghost employees and overstaffing in Karachi's civic agencies, he said it is a serious issue as the people should perform their duties after drawing salaries. He said it is a serious issue that the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, despite getting ample funds from the Sindh government, could neither perform its basic functions nor it could pay salaries to its employees.