Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd.) Maqbool Baqar has directed the Secretary of Labour Department to implement Rs 32000 the minimum labour wage and directed the Deputy Commissioner of District Korangi for action against tanker mafia within two hours. He issued these directives while chairing a meeting of the Sindh Labour Department and a 29-member delegation of Piler led by its Executive Director Karamat Ali at the Chief Minsiter House here on Sunday. The delegation of Piler discussed labour issues with the chief minister.
The delegation told him that the welfare of the workers had been affected due to the continuous transfers and postings in the labor department. On that the Caretaker Chief Minister directed the labour department from making unnecessary appointments and transfers. He was informed that 25000 minimum wage was still in effect. The delegation said that the minimum wage was announced to be Rs 32000, which has not yet been implemented. The chief minister directed the Secretary Labour to implement the minimum wage Rs 32,000 through the circulation of the Cabinet. He was informed that the women were discriminated in industries and they were either laid-off or fired at age 45.
The Caretaker CM was also informed that the female workers were paid less than male workers. The chief minister directed the Labor Secretary to end the discrimination against women and submit a report. He further said that he himself would pay surprise visits to private industrial areas to review the implementation. On the occasion, the Secretary Labour complained of shortage of officers in the Labour Department. Baqar directed the Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) to speed up the recruitment process in the Labour Department. It is pertinent to mention here that the Labour Department had already sent a request to the SPSC for the appointments a year ago.
It was informed that only a few factories were registered with SESSI. The caretaker chief minister directed SESSI to reconcile the records of registration of factories with EOBI. He directed the Secretary Labour to activate labour directorate to obtain data of industrial and domestic workers. The CM directed the Labour Department to submit a report on the death of two children due to fire in the factory warehouse on August 17. He also directed to prepare a concept paper for family welfare to end child labour. I want the children to be safe from labour, he said.
The CM directed to present proposals for further improvement labour laws. It was informed that there was no water supply in the labour colony area the site while the Worker Welfare Board had paid Rs160 million to the Water Board. The CM directed to solve the problem immediately by talking to the water boarder. He also directed for resolving the problems of polio workers. The land of the labour colony earmarked for the workers of the steel mills was being encroached, the CM was informed. On that, the chief minister issued directives to the Revenue Department to vacate the land of Steel Mills Labour Colony.
The caretaker CM telephoned Managing Director of the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board during the ongoing meeting and directed him to immediate remove garbage from Great Pura Cemetery. He also called the DC Keamari during the meeting while taking notice of 18 persons death due to spread of sewage in Keamari. and directed him to present a report of the incident in a factory.
The caretaker chief minister directed the Workers Welfare Board that the grant of workers should not be stopped under any circumstances. He also issued directives to ensure inspection of all factories. He further said that the inspection should be included a thorough examination of working conditions in the factory, harassment of women, payment of wages, sanitation and minimum wages. On the occasion, the CM was informed that the Labour Department had completed the inspection of 1500 factories regarding safety. The caretaker chief minister directed to bring unregistered industries into the registration net.
