LAHORE, March 30: The Punjab government has decided to enhance the daily allowance payable to the sick registered industrial workers and their families from Rs40 to Rs100.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Punjab Employees Social Security Institution held here on Sunday with provincial Labour Minister Syed Akhtar Husain in the chair.

The PESSI will have to spend an additional Rs10 million per annum on account of increase in the sickness allowance.

The minister said the increase in allowance had been necessitated due to the increase in cost of living. He said it would be increased further after two years.

Affiliation of social security hospitals with private medical colleges was also discussed at the meeting. It was decided to affiliate the hospitals with private medical colleges which helped improve the working of the same.

The minister also took a serious view of the complaints in respect of shortage of medicines in social security hospitals and called for ensuring availability of the same there. The meeting was attended, among others, by the Punjab Labour Secretary Raja Iqbal and Social Security Commissioner Haroon Rashid.— Reporter