Social security cards for kiln workers ordered

LAHORE: Punjab Labour Minister Anser Majeed Khan has directed the authorities concerned to ensure provision of social security cards to the brick kiln workers across the province.

He also directed the brick kiln owners to ensure availability of toilets and clean water at the work places. These directives were given by the minister in the third meeting of Provincial Vigilance Committee headed by the minister at the Labour Department here Wednesday. Labour Headquarters Director Dawood Abdullah apprised the minister about the performance of the District Vigilance Committee. Ansar Majeed Khan directed the officers concerned to hold the meetings of the district vigilance committees (DVCs) on a regular basis, making these committees more vibrant to curb forced labour and provide adequate representation to women in the committees. He said that there was a dire need to take effective measure to end forced labour at the district level. The representatives of the brick kiln owners and workers informed the minister about their reservations.

The minister said serious efforts were being made by the government to eradicate child labour. “An amnesty scheme has been launched for providing relief to the owners of industrial units. Under this scheme there will be no penalty on paying social security arrears till June 30. This will give benefit of Rs5.5 crore to the owners of industrial units,” he said.

A self-assessment scheme has also been introduced for providing relief to the owners of industrial units. “The present government has amended laws for the welfare of workers and work on the automation of Labour Department is being carried out,” he said.

Briefing the meeting, Labour Secretary Ahmed Javed Qazi said that the details of the DVCs meetings would be provided to all stakeholders through web portal. Apart from online reporting of meetings on the web portal, information related to laws, notifications, rules will also be provided. Social Security Commissioner Syed Bilal Haider said that out of 9,000 brick kilns, 959 were contributing and 5-R cards had been issued to them. The government is also working to provide treatment facilities to the brick kiln workers close to their residence.

Land transfer: Provincial Minister for Revenue Malik Muhammad Anwer has said that effective measures are being taken to provide relief to the people by ensuring a system of good governance.Facility of obtaining deed and transfer of land has been provided in different rural areas, he added. In a statement issued here Wednesday, Malik Muhammad Anwer stated that the government had made 107 rural revenue centres operational and it was a matter of satisfaction that facility of obtaining land deed and transfer was being made available to the citizens at village level. He said that 700 more rural revenue centres would be made operational by the end of this month. Around 8,000 centres would be made operational by the end of this year, he added.