MULTAN,Dec 6th: Provincial Secretary Labour Punjab Farah Masud said that Integrated Project for Elimination of Child Labour and Promotion of Decent Work worth Rs 5 billion will help stop child labour at auto-workshops, petrol pumps and service stations, hotels and restaurants along with brick kilns. These children would be enrolled in the Non- Formal Basic Education Centers and skill training centers.Addressing a MoU signed ceremony with Private educational Institutions at Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry,the Secretary said that we should discourage Child Labour to avail the Golden chance of GSP-plus status for increasing our exports to European union.She said the initiative of Chief Minister Punjab Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif to eliminate child labour from different sectors will help promote education in deprived sections of society.Secretary Labour said that after successful campaign for elimination of child labour under the age of 14 years from brick kilns, more than 70,000 children have been enrolled in collaboration with NGOs at different NFBE Centers, partner schools of PEF and school education department,said official spokesman.Child rights activists on Wednesday urged the federal and provincial governments to take drastic steps to abolish child labour at kilns in the province. She pointed out that GSP Plus had given better market access for products made in Pakistan to the entire European Union.“It is very much now in the hands of the business community to utilise this facility available for boosting trade between the two sides,” she said. Multan enjoys the pivotal role in Southern Punjab and its significance would further go up with the completion of CPEC project. “Child labour is one of the worst forms of modern-day slavery”, she said. , the experts while urging a ‘strategic policy plan’ to curb the menace called for collective action and mutual cooperation to end child labour from the country. She said that Flats would be constructed for working labour and these would be allotted to the destitutes. “Legislation relating to child employment are still not aligned with Article 25-A of the Constitution,” she said.To a question, she said the article gave each child a right to education but unfortunately the employment of children remained unaddressed, particularly in sectors like agriculture, factories, small car workshops, shops, hotels, cinemas, vending on streets, fishing industry, mining, brick kilns, weaving, bracelet making, packing and construction. Pakistan was facing a number of problems including poverty, ignorance and low illiteracy rate.Talking about the delay in payment of death grant to working class,she said that a committee was constituted at federal level to resolve this problem.This problem would be solved immediately.Commissioner Multan Bilal Butt said that we are observing child labour wherever the industry exists which is a soaring fact.He said that establishment of quality educational institutions for the children of labourers besides social security hospitals and labour colonies were a proof of labour-friendly policies of the Punjab government.He said that Government and private sector would have to join hands to end the poverty,exploitation and forced labour.President of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) Malik Asrar Ahmed Awan appreciated the measures taken by the Government to eradicate the child labour and to promote the education.Malik said 87,000 children of brick-kiln workers had been enrolled in different government-sponsored schools for providing them free education who were previously working in brick-kilns.Besides, the children have also been provided financial assistance of more than Rs 340 million, he added.He said that establishment of quality educational institutions for the children of labourers besides social security hospitals and labour colonies were a proof of labour-friendly policies of the Punjab government.MCCI President stressed the need for completion of flats of Labour colony in Industrial phase-II Multan and a school for the children of working class.number of field staff be increased in Labour department.
