‘Labourer welfare schemes in Sindh not implemented in last two years’

Sindh caretaker labour minister was informed on Friday that different welfare schemes for labourers in the province had not been implemented for the last two years

A five-member delegation of labour leaders of Karachi’s SITE area called on labour & human resources minister Simon John Daniel at his office and apprised him about their issues.

The delegation comprised Khawaja Mubasher Zubair, chairman of the SITE Labour Forum, Irshad Bhutto, joint secretary of the forum, Muhammad Aslam Tanoli, vice president of the National Trade Union, Israr Ahmed of the Kohinoor Employees Union and Gul Zameen Khan of the SITE union.

Labour leaders said that the Sindh Workers’ Welfare Fund and other welfare schemes, which offered marriage grants and scholarships for workers’ siblings, had been stopped two years ago by the workers welfare board.

They said that 70 per cent of residential flats in Maymar Labour colony had been allocated to workers; however, there was scarcity of civic facilities, such as water, electricity and gas.

Labour leaders said that they were not demanding any funds from the Sindh government. They added that SESSI (Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution) and the Workers Welfare Board Sindh were run with the funds contributed by workers.

They demanded appointing pro-welfare and pro-labourers heads of SESSI and the Workers Welfare Board Sindh who could facilitate the workers instead of putting up bureaucratic hiccups.

The minister for Labour & human resources told the delegation members that he had directed the labour department, SESSI and board administrations to computerise all the record of registered workers and create centralised data for making the access of workers to welfare measures and systems trouble-free.

He told them that he had also directed the SESSI administration to stop the local purchase of medicines so as to provide quality medicine to workers at the SESSI healthcare facilities.

“Though I have come here for the shortest period, I am trying hard to ensure some relief to workers,” Simon John Daniel assured labour leaders.