Expressing dissatisfaction over the Ministry of Labor and Manpower’s Worker Welfare Fund, the Public Accounts Committee has asked for a detailed report within eight days. The PAC, which met here with Yasmeen Rehman in chair in the absence of Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, was given briefing over the financing of housing project, achievements and objects of ‘Workers Welfare Fund’, established under WWF ordinance, 1971.
Member PAC, MNA Riaz Fatiyana raised question that what would be the use of this presentation if the Ministry of Labor and Manpower was going to be devolved under 18th amendment. Fatiana also pointed out the failure of the ministry to register labourers because of a lack of registration facilities. Another PAC members raised question about any scheme for registering home based workers (laborers) including children and women.
Some members of the committee said that the ministry should have taken help from census department for counting the number of home-base and other labourers to facilitate them in the schemes. PAC members posed questions for evolving effective mechanism regarding minimum wages figure, children labour, free education and housing schemes. Ministry representative Mustafain Kazmi admitted the failure on the part of the ministry for not properly registering the labourers.
He said that workers registration draft was being prepared and it would be affiliated with ILO and then it would be submitted to the cabinet for deliberations. A representative from ministry replied that two provinces including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan were not in favor of this devolvement.
Sharing their achievements, ministry officials said that the ministry had introduced 114 housing schemes for labourers out of which 22 were ongoing. “As many as, 9876 families compensated, 129916 labourers granted marriage funds while 386 wheel chairs were distributed,” the officials told the committee. Discussing non-functional schemes, member PAC Nadeem Afzal Chann said that a number of colleges, schools and housing societies’ structures had been erected but it could not be turned functional due to various reasons.
The committee also raised reservations over non-functional housing society in Kamaliya, Junejo Housing Schemes and others.
