Provincial Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwer has said that implementation on international labour standards in industrial and commercial units is not possible without strengthening an effective labour inspection system with the help of all the stakeholders including employers and employees.
He said the Punjab government appreciates the technical and financial assistance programmes initiated by International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Netherland’s government in this regard. He stated this while addressing the participants of launching of a three-year project of ILO for strengthening labour inspection system in Pakistan. ILO Director in Pakistan Sherin Khan, Secretary Labour Punjab Ali Sarfraz, Joint Secretary Minister of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OPHRD) Atifa Riffat, General Secretary Pakistan Workers’ Federation Zahur Awan, President Pakistan Employers Federation Khawaja Nauman, stakeholders including representatives from KPK, Balochistan and Sindh attended the inaugural ceremony. Minister Labour Raja Ashfaq Sarwer while addressing the participants said the Punjab government has taken great measures for the betterment of labour class to improve their living standards by initiating welfare-oriented programmes such as enrolment of children of kiln workers in schools. The minister apprised that labour inspection system has been computerized by switching from manual to smart phone technology for online submission of factory’s inspection report which would ensure transparency and better collection plus dissemination of reliable data. He further said that it will help to eradicate child labour in industrial sectors as well as empower labourers to get awareness about their basic rights.
ILO Country Director Sherin Khan stated that the importance of labour inspection is recognised internationally and maintained that labour inspection in Pakistan has gone through multiple transitions. She said that ILO in Pakistan has embarked upon this three-year project that aims at strengthening the regulatory favour, institutional capacities and extending the outreach and quality of the labour inspection system. The project is financially supported by the government of Netherlands and endeavour to support the Provincial Labour Department of all the four provinces.
