January 5, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 1, 1423

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MULTAN, Jan 4: The Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Employees Oldage Benefit Institution to raise the minimum pension of the retired industrial workers to Rs1,000 from the current Rs700 per month.

This was demanded by MCCI president Muhammad Khan Sadozai at a meeting with EOBI chairman Muhammad Shafi Malik here on Saturday. Members of the chamber’s executive committee were also present on the occasion.

Mr Sadozai said the present minimum pension level was insufficient owing to the prevailing price-hike. The institution should give the employees due share in its plenty of resources.

He urged that the retirement age for a male worker should be brought down to 55 years instead of 60 and of a female worker to 50 years from 55 years. The employment period of an employee registered at the age of 45 should be reduced to three years from the present condition of five years.

He said the EOBI should determine its monthly collection from various areas on the basis of industrial output. He suggested that the EOBI should first categorize each industry of an area into high, medium and low viz-a-viz production. Then it should randomly scrutinize past three years contribution to EOBI and production of 10 to 20 per cent units of an industry to calculate a universal formula to implement on the respective industry for EOBI levy. He said for instance there were five main industries in Multan — textile, weaving, cotton ginning, solvent plants and oil mills.

In this way, he hoped the EOBI income could be increased considerably especially if the employers were directed to deposit their contribution as per their production level.

He said the compulsory minimum limit to become an EOBI beneficiary for the worker of seasonal industry should be reduced to three-and-a-half-years instead of current seven years of working as industrial labour.

He urged the EOBI chairman to increase the representation of employee and employers in the regional vigilance committees while both be given representation on regional claim committees.

The EOBI chairman, Shafi Malik, stressed labour market policies, social assistance, social insurance, micro and area-based schemes and child protection for the social uplift and protection of the labour class.

He underlined the need to restore mutual confidence between industrialists and EOBI through full registration of employers, employees and transparent self-assessment.