Labour laws to be updated within ILO mandate: Aslam

LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal has said the labour laws would be updated to serve both labourers and employers in the province.

Addressing a tripartite huddle of labourers, industrialists and the government on labour laws at a local hotel on Monday, the minister said a visible change would be conspicuous in every sector of life adding that labour laws would be updated within the ILO's mandate and in accordance with relevant rules and regulations to boost labour welfare. A simple and practical law would be devised for labour welfare, social security and EOBI by consolidating 39 labour laws to expedite labour welfare, he repeated.

Aslam Iqbal said the labour department has done a great job by bringing all the stakeholders to one table for better legislation regarding employers and employees. The draft law, which will be prepared in consultation with each other, will be useful for both the employer and the employee, he said. The time has come to change the 100 years old archaic labour laws that exploit the working classes, he maintained. We have to legislate while keeping in mind the employers and employees' issues, he continued.

Provincial Minister for Labour Ansar Majeed Khan Niazi said improvement of labour laws would change the destiny of industrial workers while ending the exploitation of workers. He said the labour department has been digitised, he added. Rehmatul-lil-Alameen Social Security Hospital is the first medical institution in Punjab that is made paperless, he said. Similarly, the system of death and marriage grants of labourers have also been made online. Labour laws would be improved in such a way that workers and industry are not exploited, he said.

Conference participants made their suggestions for improving labour laws. Parliamentarians, presidents of chambers of commerce and industries, representatives of trade unions, ILO, UNICEF and line departments attended the ceremony.

LWMC: Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC) has made all necessary arrangements to maintain cleanliness in the City whereas operational team has been mobilised to tighten the monitoring.

To overview the cleanliness arrangements in the City, LWMC CEO Rafia Haider paid visit to multiple areas of Data Ganj Bakhsh and Samanabad Town which includes Gulshan Ravi, LOS, Main Boulevard, Band Road, Chauburji, Moon Market and the adjacent areas, said a press statement issued by the company here on Monday. It said the CEO also visited Sikandria workshop and monitored the departure of the vehicles. During the visit, she ordered cleanliness of weekly bazaars in the night shift. She also instructed the team to clear the areas around wedding halls on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Orders have also been issued to the operation teams to organise weekly special cleaning operations. LWMC CEO Rafia Haider said the company was working tirelessly to maintain a city-wide sanitation system and instructed to ensure more than 90% of the machinery in the field by 6am in any case. She added, in the last 24 hours, 897 tons of waste was picked up from Samanabad Town and Allama Iqbal Town. In addition, the CEO instructed the team to make fully operational the inventory management system to expedite the repair work in the workshops.