Organisations having five or more workers may register for social security scheme

Any commercial or industrial establishment in Sindh having minimum five workers or more is eligible to get registered with the provincial Social Security Scheme being run under the aegis of the Sindh Employees’ Social Security Institution (SESSI).

This fact was highlighted as SESSI held its budget session on Saturday with Education and Labour Minister Saeed Ghani in the chair as chairman of its Governing Body.

The minister said the social security scheme had been introduced in the province to provide the best possible facilities related to the welfare and well-being of the labourers and their family members.

He said the budget of SESSI for the upcoming financial year 2021-22 had been prepared in a manner to make it a labour-friendly document to the maximum possible extent by containing all the features required for the welfare of the labourers.

He mentioned that SESSI in the current financial year had spent over five billion rupees to ensure the welfare of the workers in the province. He said 71 percent of SESSI’s total expenditure in the current financial year that was over five billion rupees had been spent only to provide healthcare services to the labourers.

SESSI Commissioner Muhammad Ishaq Mahar said SESSI in the coming financial year would concentrate more on providing best possible healthcare services to the people of Sindh.

He said such measures had been contained in the new budget of SESSI, which would be helpful in extending maximum benefits of the social security scheme to the workers of the province.

SESSI in the coming financial year will collect over eight billion rupees as social security contributions from different commercial and industrial

establishments.

The scheme provides healthcare coverage to the labourers in case of illness, physical disability, pregnancy or injury at the workplace.

SESSI also provides financial assistance to the heirs of deceased workers, besides an allowance to the woman worker after the death of her husband.

The new budget of SESSI contains an amount of over Rs112 million for providing such financial assistance to workers and their family members facing hardships.