July 29, 2002	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 18,1423

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SWABI, July 28: The Federal Minister for Labour and Overseas Pakistanis, Owais Ghani, has said 100 English-medium model schools will be established by the Workers Welfare Board (WWB) across the country in the current year where the children of the poor workers will get free education.

Addressing the representatives of the peasants and workers at the office of the district Nazim here on Saturday, he said at present 10 schools in Punjab, eight in NWFP, four each in Balochistan and Sindh provinces had been set up by the WWB and the annual expenditure of each school was about Rs4 million to Rs5 million which had been provided from the workers welfare fund (WWF).

If the downtrodden workers, he said, had failed to get education their children could receive it and those who would remain outstanding among them would be provided scholarship on merit. Besides, he added, widening of the scholarship programme was also under consideration. In this context, he pointed out, an outstanding son of a worker had already been supported by the WWB and was studying in the reputed Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute, Topi.

The minister said only through imparting modern education to the young generation a genuine revolution could be brought in the country. All other claims about revolution, he added, were hollow and being raised only to deceive the masses. That was the reason, he said, that the incumbent government had put too much stress on imparting modern education and took a number of steps for the provision of education facilities.

In Pakistan, Ghani remarked, there were high standard educational institutions for the elite class and low standard educational institutions for the lower classes, the former had occupied all the key posts and outlets in each department while the latter were confronting a number of problems.

The previous governments, he went on to say, had purchased cycles, sewing machines and fans from the workers welfare fund which were given to some workers. However, the Musharraf government had replaced this policy with the one of establishing model schools for the children of workers so as to enable them to stand on their own feet.

Besides the WWB, he said, the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), which also works for the welfare of the people, may establish schools only in those areas which had highest number of overseas employees. The budget of the former was Rs40 billion and the latter only Rs1 billion, the minister observed.

The OPF would also establish a model school and a health care centre or a handicraft centre in Swabi district and a meeting in this regard would be held on Tuesday in Islamabad so as to formulate a result-oriented policy.

Turning to the Swabi model school, he said the provincial government had already allocated and sanctioned Rs30 million but its construction could not commence due to differences between the district government and the labour leaders.

The latter wanted its establishment in the district headquarter while the former had already allocated 50 kanal land for it in Yaqubi union council and had made all-out efforts to set it up there.

The minister urged the district government and labour leaders to reach a consensus on the issue within six days. However, he said: “If they fail, then I will take action but this school will be established at all costs and those who will create hurdles will be dealt with iron hands. I can’t bear any impediment.”

About the proposed constitutional amendments, he said the government was looking for the removal of loopholes in the system.

Earlier, the labour leaders appealed to the minister to take steps for the implementation of the international labour laws in the Gadoon Estate, provision of social security and compensation to the workers, inclusion of workers in the district labour committee, allocation of development funds for the district and Tehsil councillors, stoppage of the shifting of machinery from Gadoon Estate to other areas and establishment of an office of Pakistan Tobacco Board in the district.