Punjab government to restore marriage grant for daughters of the workers : Ch Pervez Elahi

Lahore: Pakistan Muslim League (PML) senior central leader and former Deputy Prime Minister Ch Parvez Elahi has said that during our tenure we had abolished tax on five marla houses, levied by them, but they have electrocuted the poor by re-imposing it again, many hospitals and schools could be constructed by billions of rupees dumped in only one route jangla bus, deserving patients could have been provided free medicines whereas they could establish housing colonies for the workers.

Addressing an enthusiastic largely attended Labour Convention at the Muslim League House here today, Ch Parvez Elahi further said that instead of carry forward our workers friendly projects in Punjab, the present rulers even withdrew the facilities given by us to the workers.

Labour Convention was also addressed by Ch Zaheeruddin Khan, Sajjad Baloch, Sh Faqeer Hussain Wadera, Raja Imtiaz, Ch Mohammad Ashraf, Rana Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Salim and Ayesha Shaikh, participated by labour leaders from all sectors and organizations while those seated on the stage included Kamil Ali Agha, Muhammad Basharat Raja, Syed Faqeer Hussain Bokhari, Mian Munir, Mian Abdul Sattar, Sh Umar Hayat, Khwaja Tahir Zia, Seemal Kamran, Syeda Majida Zaidi, Kanwal Nasim, Ch Abdul Razzaq, Ch Bilal, Abdul Ghafoor, Mohammad Ashraf, Arshad Hussain Shah Bokhari, Hafiz Usman, Hafiz Ammar, Nasira Taji, Shahid Salim, Mohammad Nawaz, Islam Chohan and other leaders.

Continuing Ch Parvez Elahi said that we had created ten lakhs job opportunities every year, they were snatching away even bread from the poor workers, workers and labourers were selling their children and committing suicides because they could not meals for two times industrial zones already established should be made functional and run instead of snatching away agricultural land of Sheikhupura from, farmers and rendering them jobless.

Ch Parvez Elahi said further that electricity has been made so costly that it has gone out of the reach of the people, now people themselves would start saying they do not want electricity, we had provided facilities to the poor and common man, Punjab was now under huge debt of Rs 700 billion whereas we had left a surplus of Rs 100 billion, map of Punjab could have been changed if they had allowed to run our almost completed projects worth Rs 35 billion, even after getting Rs 100 billion more than earlier under the NFC Award prosperous Punjab of our tenure was victim of lack of resources due to Shaikh Chilli projects.

He further said that sports would have been promoted in the province if the crores of rupees wasted on festivals were given to schools, colleges and district sports bodies and sportsmen would have got due encouragement. He pointedly stated that we had established social security hospitals in industrial cities, got Labour Complex constructed in Rs two billion worth Sunder Industrial Estate, constructed new labour colonies, increased food allowance for sick industrial workers by 100 per cent and death grant by 50 per cent, approved marriage grant for all daughters of a worker instead of just two daughters and the amount was raised to Rs 75 thousand from Rs 30 thousand whereas now prices of all articles including atta, rice, ghee have increased many times as compared to our tenure.

Through the resolutions adopted by the convention, it was demanded that labour colonies should be established in all cities as was done during the tee govt of Ch Parvez Elahi, railways, PIA, Steel Mill and other big institutions should not be privatized and marriage grant for daughters of the workers should be restored.