Rs10m relief given to workers under labour laws

Islamabad: Labour Department, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) has provided relief of over Rs10 million to the workers by ensuring strict implementation of labour laws in the federal capital during the last eight months.

The department also recovered over Rs5.3 million payments through judgments under the Wage Act, against 22 complaints lodged by workers for non-payment/delay in wages from their owners, Director Labour and Industries, Waqar Ahmed told this agency on Thursday.

Despite corona related restrictions for at least three months, the department had remained actively engaged in the redressal of workers’ complaints and provided relief worth millions of rupees, he remarked.

He said as many as 21 complaints were received in written form to which more than Rs1.1 million relief was granted to the complainants. Around Rs1, 724,000 payments were ensured against 407 complaints received through Prime Minister’s Performance Delivery Unit (PMDU), he added.

The department, he said issued 71 challans and imposed over Rs2.7 million fines for defying various labour laws across the city, Waqar said. To a query, he said some 247 factories, 4,005 shops/establishments were registered with the department.

Out of a total of 92 marble units in the federal capital around 68 was registered while rest of it would be registered soon, he said, adding, some 219 workers of marble units were also medically examined during the last year.

To another query, he said ICT administration was committed for the elimination of child/bonded labour from Islamabad, and for that purpose, labour department teams were paying regular visits to the shops and factories, besides Implementation of the notified minimum wage. He underscored the need for creating mass awareness among the masses to end domestic labour.