Elimination of child labour is top priority of the government: Raja Ashfaq Sarwar

Lahore: Provincial Minister for Labour & Human Resources Raja Ashfaq Sarwar has said that elimination of child labour is top priority of Punjab government. He said that Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif has allocated a huge sum of Rs.500 million for elimination of child and forced labour and rehabilitation programme. He said that district labour officers should further improve their performance with regard to elimination of child labour, registration of kiln workers, checking of weight and measures and imposing fine in all districts of the province. He said that district labour officers instead of adopting obsolete methods, should improve their performance through modern system.

He expressed these views while presiding over a meeting held to review the performance of district labour officers for the last eleven months at Industrial Relations Institute Township.

Secretary Labour and Commissioner Social Security Farhan Aziz Khawaja, DG Labour Welfare Syed Hasnaat Javed and all district labour officers attended the meeting. The meeting reviewed in detail the performance of labour officers of all districts for the last eleven months regarding registration of kiln workers, checking of weight and measures, welfare grants and other matters.

Raja Ashfaq Sarwar said that Punjab government has adopted an effective strategy for eliminating child labour. He expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of district labour officers. He said that hard working and honest workers will be posted in districts. He warned that poor performance will not be tolerated. He said that those officers showing negligence in registration of kiln workers and not ensuring minimum wages will immediately be transferred.

Secretary Labour Farhan Aziz Khawaja stressed upon district labour officers to further improve their performance. He said that first three district officers showing outstanding performance will be given rewards and commendatory certificates.