Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif went to village Jiya Bagga, 33 kilometers away from Lahore, without any prior intimation and landed his helicopter near a brick kiln.
The purpose of the surprise visit of Sharif was to review implementation of the decisions regarding elimination of child labour from brick kilns. He reviewed the situation at three different brick kilns of the village for several hours and also talked to the labourers.
Talking to the chief minister, the brick kiln workers said that the decision of PML-N government to rid the children of labour at brick kilns and to give them a monthly scholarship of Rs 1,000 and a stipend of Rs 2,000 to their parents is a poor-friendly step of the PML-N government. They said that it will also change the destiny of their families and save them from the oppressive system.
The chief minister expressed strong indignation at seeing a 13-year-old boy Muhammad Danish working at a brick kiln and reprimanded the owner. He said that Muhammad Danish should be studying in Daanish School instead of working at a brick kiln. He expressed the hope that use of force will not be needed and the brick kiln owners will help in the education of children as they are future of the nation. He said that no one will be allowed to mortgage these children in return for advance payment.
Sharif announced complete financial support to the children working at brick kilns and said that he will not rest content until every child working at brick kilns is enrolled in school. He said that education of these children is a national cause and the Punjab government has allocated hundreds of thousands of rupees for this purpose. He said that all-out funds will be provided for the education of these children. He said besides giving a monthly scholarship of Rs 1,000 to every child going to school, the government will also bear his educational expenses.
He said that free uniform, textbooks and stationery will also be provided to these children while transport facility will be extended to the children of far flung areas. He said that a sum of Rs 2,000 will be given to the parents of the children going to school. Brick kiln workers and the people of the village expressed pleasure on surprise visit of the chief minister and seeing him among them and raised the slogans of ‘Shehbaz Sharif Zindabad’.
