‘Government improving labour inspection system’

LAHORE: Punjab Labour and Human Resource Additional Secretary Dr Sohail Shehzad said on Sunday that the provincial government in collaboration with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) was working to strengthen regulatory framework, upgrading institutional capacities and quality of the labour inspection system. Talking to APP, Dr Sohail Shehzad said initially the project was financially supported for Punjab by the government of Netherlands, and it would extend its endeavour to support the provincial labour departments of all the four provinces as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The additional secretary said Pakistan was a signatory to 36 ILO conventions, including all eight fundamental conventions.

To a question, Dr Sohail Shehzad said the Punjab government was particularly focusing on textile and garment sector as some 15 million labourers were working in this sector. Working conditions are being improved, including workplace safety and the liaison among the management, workers and state institutions, he added. According to the data, produced by the CIA World Factbook, the total number of Pakistan's labour force was 57.2 million, making it the ninth largest country on the basis of available human workforce. About 43 per cent of the workforce was involved in agriculture, 20.3 per cent in industry and the remaining 36.6 per cent in other sectors.